BNFCF Board Meeting 11-28-2016

November 28, 2016

Dear Fiddlesticks Neighbor,

As most of you know, this past summer we lost a great friend and fellow Piper, Earl Holland. The loss of such a dynamic member of our community caused us all to pause and reflect on how we could best continue his legacy of generosity, strength, and hope. In fact, many of you have been asking what the Bobby Nichols Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation plans to do to honor his memory. Earl believed in the Foundation and the children we support. It didn’t matter how many times he toured the agencies or heard their stories of struggle and pain. Each time he was equally moved to be an engine of change to help these victims have the childhoods they deserve. As kids, we all remember people asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Perhaps our response was something which would make an adult smile and think, “Well, that’s not highly probable!” The point is, as children we dare to dream big and every child should be able to do just that. Earl Holland knew that dreaming big was not something that children in crisis did very often. They couldn’t look very far into the future because their immediate, basic need for safety needed to be addressed. To honor Earl and his legacy, we aspire to give these kids their dreams for the future. After many months of discussion, research and planning, we are proud to announce THE EARL HOLLAND MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP. Recipients of this award will meet certain criteria including the unfortunate circumstance of having utilized the services of one of the agencies we support. The named scholarship will be in the form of an endowment at Florida Southwestern State College. To kick off this initiative, Ken and Debbie Burnside will be hosting a concert by famed Chicago crooner, Johnny Vincent on January 13, 2017 at Fiddlesticks Country Club. All funds raised from this concert will go directly to the endowment effort. Further details on the concert will be in an upcoming weekly FCC email and I hope you will join us for this exciting evening of song. In addition, any past or future memorial contributions made in Earl’s name will be designated to the fund. Your donation made payable to BNFCF can be mailed or dropped off at the club. Please note the scholarship fund in the memo section of your check. Please help us ensure that Earl’s legacy of hope and change will continue to grow, just as these young minds will flourish and prepare for the future. Thank you for the support you have shown for these children. The foundation has helped them in crisis, and now we will help to empower them to build strong futures of their own.

With Fiddlesticks Pride,

Michael Lancellot, President

Bobby Nichols Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation