T he Florid Fire and Emergency Services Foundation continues to refine its bylaws and scholarship program. As we refine our operations we are looking at our revenue generation in an effort to expand funding educational programs and public awareness efforts. We have worked with the Executive Director and officers of the FFCA to determine the best way to keep the two organizations separate yet provide mutual benefit to each other. It is time for the Foundation to grow and step out further into the future and the bigger world of providing service in new ways to the fire and emergency services community. We have a diverse board of trustees that is dedicated to helping the Foundation move into the future. The Foundation is looking at its mission again and laying out a path for what we can be and do to help improve education and training in the fire and emergency services in Florida. Under the leadership and guidance of Bill Bingham we have rolled out a very successful Emergency Services Leadership Institute for chief fire officers. Bill Alm has stepped up and is moving the Emergency Vehicle Technician Program into the future with ideas to grow that educational program. While not a Foundation function, thanks to Danny Bennett, Cindy Morgan, Bill Alm, and Susan Cote we have brought a successful small vendor program to the Executive Development Conference. Under the leadership of Rick Talbert we revised and expanded our scholarship program to include the Craig Haun Memorial Scholarship and are continuing to review the requirements for others. Rand Napoli agreed to represent the Foundation in helping to fund the Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Tallahassee. This may not have happened had we not provided a mechanism to receive and distribute the funding. We partner with the Northwest Volunteer Firefighter Weekend to help keep that free skill training program available for both paid and volunteer firefighters. We partnered with the Bureau of Fire Standards and Training to help provide the Safety and Health Conference. I feel that there is still a lot more we could be doing in the future to provide education to both responders and the public. We are looking at development of a program for fire officers working toward becoming chief officers. Discussions are taking place to see if we can help better meet the needs of small rural and volunteer departments by having a program similar to the NWVFW located somewhere in the east central part of the state. We have done some preliminary work with the Volunteer Committee on providing a modular program for volunteer chiefs. I’m listing some food for thought as we consider the future and chart our course to move forward. Is our scholarship program viable or should it be expanded to provide for other opportunities rather than individual scholarships? Should the board makeup include more outside business executives that are not related to the fire and emergency world? Are there other areas where we should develop training and educational opportunities for our members? Is there a way to raise a significant amount of funding so that we can be an impact foundation that our members can turn to for help in providing education and training? These questions just scratched the surface of the opportunities we need to consider, but it gives you some idea of the kind of things we should and must consider if we are going to move forward. The Foundation is still involved in helping in the remembrance off those who passed on in the line of duty and their families. We are focused on funding an account where we can help families in need travel to memorial services. Thanks for all you have done and anything you may choose to do in the near future. Your input will help us become more knowledgeable of your needs so please contact one of the Foundation Trustees or the Executive Director. FLORIDA FIRE SERVICE July 2017 6 Michael Long MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN https://www.facebook.com/FlFireChiefsAssociation/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/florida-fire-chiefs @FlFireChiefs Please check us out on social media July 2017 FFS.QXD 6/27/17 7:49 PM Page 6