Be a Hero for a Day!

[FloridaBoarder]

Hey guys, its Mike Hall
I am almost on my way back from Spain and have some stories to tell you. I kitesurfed Bermuda, Azores, and Tarifa. I used every kite I brought, sailed through humpback whales, swam with over 25 dolphins at once and met Ruben Len10. Craziness.
But this is what I really want to discuss. I had the pleasure of meeting the director of Children's Home in Tampa on the way out of town. Right now he is helping 180 kids find homes and families. I asked him if I would be able to set up a day for them to have some fun in the sun. Well..I got the OK and this it what I have so far.
Beach Day at FT. Desoto Park
Kids come out and see a wakeboard show, kite demo, learn to fly trainer kites, games and relays, soft ball game (hopefully with some Devil rays) and a huge BBQ. There is no date for it yet, but I want to make sure Wild Bill and the Devil Rays are in town, to make it extra cool for the them. I am thinking July or August.
If you have any ideas or want to help out. Reply to the post or Email me at Hallassbaby@yahoo.com.
Hope to hear from you soon!

[inferno]

sounds like a great idea to me, im in...

Sounds good to me, just name place and time.

[conchxpress]

Make sure the media is involved. Also the appropriate police and fire rescue may not be a bad idea. With that many kids you'd want to have a fire-rescue on hand anyway. What you're planning would be a huge undertaking. Would require everyone on the forum. How many kids at a time? All 180?

I'm in.
Frank

[TBKA]

There are a ton of logistics involved, permits,preparations, etc. We are working on many different events along these lines and are happy to help make this happen. We may have another opp with Florida Youth at Risk, similar to this one coming up soon, in addition to an event with the Lassing Park HOA, whom we really need to impress if we ever hope to hold an event, or get signage approved there.
There is also several other large projects in the works right now and we need all the help we can get to make these types of things happen.
I will be posting a list of projects, and areas that we need help in, on TBKA. A small handful of us are trying to make ALL these things happen and more, Please contact us if you have time to help out.

Breakfast meeting Sunday morning for anyone helping in the paperwork dept.
Steve (813) 389-3683

[TBKA]

I think getting the media involved is a good idea only if this is properly organized and we can show that we aren't just a bunch of "overgrown skateboarders".
Scott, your 5 hours a week has been more like 20 a week for a while now. The website is clean and professional lookiing, and has a non commercialized feel to it.
With other donating a few hours a week to our projects in other areas, things would really move forward.
I made a note on the Shell Key cleanup story that serves as a good example:
With 40 volunteers working for 2 hours each, we totaled 80 man hours towards that project in just one Saturday morning, allowing the rest of the day for play.
Pinellas County got 80 man hours of labor for free ( from the kiters), and that 80 hours saved them time, money, and effort. Thats how they view these things.
This assn./or org. is the same deal, everyone donates a few hours of their time in specific areas, and suddenly we have 2, 3, or more FULL timers getting things done in an efficient manner.
Here's a pipe dream for you- 100 kiters working 4 hours a week (average 45 min. a day) equals 10 full time positions. We all waste that amount of time reading these forums.
That 45 minutes making a few calls or doing some research can REALLY make a difference in the big picture, and make events like Mike is speaking of, a realistic goal.
There is literally a position for everyone, regardless of talents or skill level, and some TBKA members have more time in this assn. than they do on the water.
www.tbka.org