Many months back, Erica French from Educate Tomorrow approached me at a BNI South Beach meeting to see if I could arrange some outlines for a summer camp program that they conduct yearly for constituents who they are serving.  Educate Tomorrow is a noble, non-profit organization that seeks to help young men and women who have aged out of the foster care system attain educational and career goals through mentorship.  Two summer dates were chosen for the camp events, one for the young men and the other for the young women.

 Initially, due to his proximity to Miami, my plan was to have my friend Johnny Tigertail of the Miccosukee Tribe offer the camp participants an airboat tour to his family’s tree islands on tribal lands.  Unfortunately, a very severe dry season made this option impossible because there was no water in the Everglades for the airboats to travel on.

At this point, I called another friend, Captain Jerome Brownlee, owner of American Airboat Tours in the little West coast town of Goodland, Florida.  Like all other businessmen in Southern Florida, Captain Jerome suffered the financial tribulations of the past several years of recession.  This did not stop him, however, from offering his time and airboats free of charge to the young camp participants.

Captain Jerome and his employees went way beyond the call of duty by also preparing a lavish lunch for all the participants and staff, me included.  Now, I am not a very emotional guy but this act of generosity and selflessness got me a little choked up.  Everyone came back from the airboat ride, crossed the street to the company headquarters and enjoyed an outdoor lunch, set up with picnic tables, sodas, home-made picnic specialties and desserts.  Captain Jerome footed the bill for the whole affair.  His staff dedicated their time and attention on two summer weekend days. All of this, to benefit some young people who were dealt a raw deal in the first decades of their life. Captain Jerome and his team will be business associates of my company for as long as I live… and they are my friends.  They are my kind of people!