A Message From AMBUCS National President Greg Ferris
Dear fellow Ambucs,
We are in the midst of another hectic holiday season! Many of our chapters are holding holiday parties and members are getting together with both friends and family. On behalf of the National Board we wish each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday season.
It’s not too late to take someone off the national wish list before Christmas. What better gift could you give someone than the gift of mobility and independence? There are over 400 deserving children and adults still on the wish list at this time. Don’t forget there are also bonus scorecard points available for each trike donated during the month of December.
The end of October culminated another successful AmTryke month. Over three hundred AmTrykes were ordered and delivered during the month. Thank you to all the chapters who were able to participate this year!
As most of you know, Bill Fulton of the Danville, IL chapter is now a member of the AmBility Board. Bill’s task is to help promote our new Disabled Veteran initiative. Please make sure and read the article about the Lt. Dan Weekend in this magazine, beginning on page 8. We are excited about this new phase of our AmTryke program and appreciate Bill’s willingness to take on this new responsibility. You’ll be hearing a lot more about our new program in the coming months.
Next month is a busy one for both the national boards. The AmBility Board meets January 14-15 and the National Board of Directors meets the following week. The meetings are held in High Point at the Resource Center. If you have items that you think might need to be considered by either of the boards, be sure and get them to the appropriate member of each board. I’d like to also take this time to welcome Larry Windingland, Vance Hall and Mike Gray to the National Board. They are all great Ambucs and will be a tremendous asset to our organization.
How many of you know AMBUCS has a strategic plan? We actually do and I plan on discussing the different aspects of the plan in the next few magazines. I think it’s important that you understand where we are headed as an organization and there’s no better way to do that than bring you up to date on the plan.
The National Exec-Team would like to thank you for all the wonderful hospitality we received at the Fall Conferences. The programs were informative and we hope that everyone took at least two or three good ideas to share with their chapter members who could not attend. If you weren’t there you missed out on a great opportunity to have fun and fellowship with the folks who have the same passion to assist those in need. Start making plans now to attend next year’s conferences.
Also, please take the time to read the articles in these last two magazine issues about our history as an organization. Our chapter growth is continuing and it is important that our new members understand how we’ve arrived where we are now. We have a history rich in great leadership and events that we should all be aware and proud of.
Rick Kerr, Joe Copeland and I were able to participate in the National Service Club Leadership Conference in November. There were staff and volunteer leadership from many of the other service clubs from across the country and a few of the international service organizations. While we all face many of the same issues, you should be proud of the fact that AMBUCS was one of the few service organizations that showed positive growth in both membership and chapter’s last year. We are on the right track and that’s in no small part because of the foresight and leadership that Joe Copeland has and continues to provide to our organization. Let’s keep the momentum going!
Jan and I wish each and every one of you a meaningful holiday season and joy and happiness in the New Year. Please remember these words from the great J Paul Meyer: “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”
Shoulders together,
Greg Ferris
2010-11 AMBUCS National President
