By Richard Weinstein, President & COO
Ocean Reef Community Foundation
Not sure if you know this but we at the Foundation offices have a secret admirer. Well, not really a secret to us but will remain so to you… Every holiday (and I mean every single holiday on your calendar, including Chinese New Year), everyone in the office receives a small gift — usually a box of chocolates, but sometimes a small charm or other kind of treat. For St Paddy’s Day last month, the goodie bag included a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (yay!)
So this got me wondering… if you say something bad, you get your mouth washed out with soap, so does that mean if you say something nice, you get to wash your mouth out with cookies? I think there would be way more kindness in the world if that were the case, and I think we need another holiday to celebrate that. The world needs more Thin Mint cookies (preferably frozen).
A friend of mine is well known for mis-mixing metaphors, things like “Hindsight is 50-50” and “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it” (I think they are called “malaprops”). I’m never really sure if they are on purpose (sadly, I think not), but it is always humorous because they come when you least expect them.
Maybe that should be the holiday, just a surprise holiday that comes when you least expect it and which is announced at the last minute, a lagniappe.
I always thought it would be a terrific business practice to have “well days” — just one of those days where it is too beautiful outside and you wake up in a good mood and call in saying you are feeling really great and will be taking a “well day.” That kind of holiday that pops up unexpectedly and everyone celebrates it.
That is not quite what All Charities is, but the dates do seem to move around — not to mix in religion, but a little like Easter or Passover, holidays that follow a different calendar. So on our Gregorian calendar the dates seem to move, but Easter follows the lunar cycles and Passover uses another lunar calendar, the Hebrew calendar. For All Charities, the governing calendar is that of the NFL, so that we do not fall on Superbowl Sunday while still (mostly, except for next year) avoiding Presidents Day weekend, as well as finding availability for our auctioneer, David Goodman, and working with the Club to ensure both ballrooms are available. So this year and next, All Charities will be later in the month of February, and the following years we will once again be earlier in the month. Amazingly, we know all this because we are now confirmed on our dates and our Event Chairs through 2030!
That means for many years to come, the first step is already in place to ensure we can continue to make Good Things happen not only for our not-for-profit organizations here at the Reef, but too for the important and much needed charities in the Upper Keys, Florida City, and Homestead.
And in the Upper Keys and Homestead, we have already committed to two impact projects so far this year.
The first is a $500K matching fund for the newly created Building Bridges Scholarship for the College of the Florida Keys. This is a “last dollar” scholarship that covers any remaining expenses after other State and Federal Scholarships have been applied. This is offered with a preference toward Club, ORCA, and Chamber Associates and their families and other entities within the Ocean Reef community, followed closely by residents of Key Largo, all for attendance at the Upper Keys Center. Since its announcement in January, this fund has been matched to $425K with $75K remaining to match. It will create a $1,000,000 endowment that will then provide $50K a year in perpetuity toward this scholarship.
The second wonderful Impact Investment was approved in February: a “One Million Dollar Donation toward the Expansion of Homestead Hospital.” With several Ocean Reef Members quickly following through with private donations, significant and meaningful support was in place in time for the initial groundbreaking. Ultimately, this expansion will see investments from the Baptist Hospital Foundation and other private donations upwards of $250M and be a much needed development that will support the rapidly growing Homestead and Florida City communities as much as it will benefit Ocean Reef. Many of the services that now require traveling to the Kendall location would be available much closer in the not too distant future.
Well, it has been quite a journey, from the beginning of the season to this early April Easter Weekend, and from the Barenaked Ladies to the Redneck Dinner and the upcoming First Dibs dinners this season and next fall. And from our (let’s say, not-so-secret) admirer to free college education and saving lives with Baptist….
These are all Good Things.
Featured Preferred Partners
Impact Fund Grant for Baptist Homestead Hospital Expansion
Ocean Reef Conservation Association Awards $397,000 in Grants This Past Year
