April 2, 2025 • 39 mins
The strength of a community isn’t just in its infrastructure—it’s in how it supports those who protect it. In this episode, we sit down with Brian Dolan and Robyn Pinto of the Milton First Responders Foundation (MFRF) to explore the incredible ways this all-volunteer organization has spent the last decade providing for Milton’s police officers and firefighters.
From financial assistance and educational grants to groundbreaking mental health support, MFRF ensures first responders, and their families never face challenges alone. Plus, a new opportunity under Georgia’s tax credit program is making it easier than ever for individuals and businesses to contribute. Tune in to hear how this initiative is making a real impact—and how you can be part of it.
Want to get involved or donate? You can learn more about MFRF here:
www.miltonfirstresponders.org
With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.
Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov
Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for
the city of Milton.
We want to bring you closer tothe heart of our community
through stories that inform,inspire and connect.
Each episode offers abehind-the-scenes look at the
people, projects and prioritiesshaping Milton, covering
everything from local governmentand future development to arts,
culture, sustainability andpublic safety.
(00:28):
Whether you're a resident, alocal business owner or just
curious about our city, this isyour front row seat to what
makes Milton special.
Welcome back to Milton in Maine.
I'm your host, christy Weeks,the communications manager for
the city of Milton, and todaywe're talking about an
organization that plays acritical role in supporting our
first responders the MiltonFirst Responder Foundation.
Joining me today are twoincredible guests, brian Dolan
(00:52):
and Robin Pinto, both whom havebeen deeply involved in the
foundation for over a decade.
We'll discuss the foundation'smissions, its programs and how
it supports our police officersand firefighters in meaningful
ways.
So let's get started.
First of all, brian, robin,thank you so much for being here
and, to start off, I'd love forour listeners to get to know
(01:14):
you both.
Can you each share a little bitabout your background and how
you came to be involved with thefoundation?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, let's see, about 10 years ago I got a call
from my brother who was anofficer in the Milton Police
Department and he said thatClaudine Wilkins, who started
the foundation, was going to gettogether a group of people to
form this board so that we couldserve our Milton first
(01:42):
responders, and he wanted toknow if I was interested.
So I said yes.
We went to a meeting and thencome May it'll be 10 years.
In May we had our first meeting, got together a board of like
nine people, and we decided thatyes, we were going to do this,
(02:03):
we were going to help them outby raising money and doing what
we could for them.
That's awesome.
Yeah, thank you for having ushere, christy.
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
It's been a very great ride for us and I got
involved as having over a35-plus year executive corporate
career.
There was a point in time in mycareer that I wasn't giving
back enough to my community andI really kind of let Harkin back
to my dad.
My dad was NYPD officer, grewup in the Bronx Bronx, new York
was awesome.
He actually worked in the SouthBronx at Fort Apache, so
there's actually a movie made ofhis precinct, fort Apache, the
(02:29):
Bronx, with Paul Newman.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Oh, write it down, I'm going to go watch it If
anyone want to go.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Look at it.
It is a great film.
But he was so passionate notonly by policing the streets,
getting kids off the streets,getting them into sports and
creating really an inspirationfor them and their families to
do something and getting themoff the streets versus maybe
getting into some trouble.
So he was just alwayspassionate about community.
(02:53):
So this came to me through RonWallace, who many of us all know
in the community.
He's been also an active memberin policing as well as the
Alfredo Public Safety.
And then he came to me aboutthe Milton First Responders
needing some leadership andsupport and taking it to the
next level.
And that's where I really gotto meet Robin and the team 10
years ago really.
We're almost pretty much to theday.
It's been pretty impressive andjust really looking at the
(03:16):
organization, where do we needto take it?
And just saw a greatopportunity to come in, support
our community, support our FirstResponders Every one of us on
the board today.
Right, we are volunteers,citizens of Milton, we love our
first responders and that's allwe need.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Wow.
You know I love hearing storieslike that because I think deep
inside everybody, we all go.
How can I get back?
How can I contribute?
What skill set do I have thatwould be beneficial?
And so the fact that y'allfound this 10 years ago and have
done such an amazing job withit is just absolutely incredible
(03:51):
, and I give you both a lot ofcredit for taking it on, because
I know it's a lot of time andit's a lot of commitment on your
part, but I also know that itpays off in the end.
It's got a deep-seated missionand great results.
So we're going to talk aboutsome of your developments.
(04:12):
You've got a lot going on,there's a lot to cover and I
want to make sure we touch on asmany as we can.
So one of the biggestdevelopments for the foundation
recently is your approval toparticipate in Georgia's tax
credit program under the LawEnforcement Strategic Support
Act or LESS Crime Act.
Can you explain how thisprogram works and what it means
to the Milton Police Department?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So the state of Georgia decided to roll out this
program that people couldallocate some of their Georgia
taxes to a qualified lawenforcement foundation, which we
applied for last year and wereapproved.
And so they go on to thewebsite, they put in what they
(04:55):
want to donate to the foundation, they get approval from the
state and then they make thedonation.
Within 60 days we get the money.
The money goes towards ourpolice department and we are
able to support them in any ofthe things that they need.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Sure, Any apparatus that they may need, right,
there's discussions aroundsalary augmentation and things
like that can be forwarded.
So we've become more in tunewith the city, right Maybe some
of the city needs andrequirements in the police
department.
So we're more ingrained withworking with Chief Griffin and
the team and the city as well,to really understand is there
some budget gap that's beencreated to which portion of
these proceeds can actually gotoward supporting those efforts
(05:35):
for Milton Police Department.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Right on, and so I'll be sure in the show notes to
include the website where allthis information can be found,
because I know people are goingto have questions, they're going
to want to join in, they'regoing to want to participate,
and some maybe just to get moreinformation about the work that
you're doing.
So all that will go in the shownotes, great.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's been a great program because we have already
received donations through thisprogram, so we know that it
works and we know that peopleare excited that their tax
dollars are going straight tothe Milton Police Department.
They know where they is.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I understand that there's a lot of different
important moving parts, but toknow that all of it goes
(06:32):
directly to the cause, nowthat's amazing, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
And it includes not only the citizens of Milton
right, or even if you havegrandparents that live in Canton
and they want to donate toMilton first responders
foundation as part of this prothis tax center program, they
can do that as well, as ourbusinesses can participate in
this program, so that couldactually be a very big
accelerator from fundraising forus for the tax incentive
program.
Oh, that's amazing.
I'll put it in the show notes,I promise we're going to get
(06:57):
that going.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So one of our last episodes we had the CARES
program on right, so we talkedto Derek and Mark for quite a
long time.
They had a wealth ofinformation to share and one of
the topics that came up wasmental health support and with
first responders it is socritical and I feel like and you
(07:21):
can correct me if I'm wrongit's one of the last things that
happens for them in general isaddressing some of the mental
health issues that do occur.
The things that they do see,experience, hear about their
whole world is something thatmost of us can't even process
Right, nor should we.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, no for sure, and we absolutely agree, and we
took this initiative almostthree to four years ago, where
we partnered up with SummitCounseling.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, and they're in Roswell.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we just got to be connecting with
Roswell.
We know what Roswell justrecently went through with and
the Labonte family Officer,labonte, was killed several
weeks back.
So we know that departmentneeded some additional help and
mental health support isrequired.
You know, when I look at my dad, right, mental health support
is required.
When I look at my dad mentalhealth back in those days in the
late 60s and early 70s even the80s wasn't even spoke about.
It was kind of a flaw in yourcharacter if you expressed any
(08:13):
sort of-.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was part of the job.
It was part of the job.
Ptsd was something that is justpart of the job that you've got
to deal with.
That's your deal.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Just live through it.
It's great to see now such atransformational shift in
understanding mental health andawareness and being mentally fit
for the job, not onlyphysically fit for the job.
Correct.
And I got to give massivecredit to the leadership of this
city, right From the mayor ondown, city manager Krokoff,
leadership right.
Our chiefs are rallied allbehind this.
(08:40):
It is spoken about openly.
And please raise your hand.
It's not looked as a negativebut as a positive that you're
looking for help and support,and let's face it.
It's not only what they see onthe job potentially, but also
let's face it we're all havefamilies, lives we have kids
that have school issues, drugissues, I mean there's so many
(09:01):
issues.
Family related issues, marriageissues we all face that, yeah,
and we all need help at somepoint in time.
It's great that we have aprogram to raise your hand, say
I need some help, and thispartnership with Summit
Counseling affords every firstresponder and their immediate
family members to get freecounseling services for them and
their immediate family members.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I absolutely love that.
That and fun fact about uhsummit counseling is when they
opened.
I was with an addictiontreatment center at the time
working for them and was able tobe there on their opening and
what a phenomenal group ofpeople oh yeah they have done a
great job building theirprograms and being available, so
kudos to that and they want tocontinue to do more.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I was going to say, the best part of the whole
program is that it's totallyconfidential.
So if a first responder wantsto get help but doesn't want to
be seen going into their office,they have Zoom sessions so they
can accommodate.
If they don't live close toMilton or Roswell, they can do
(10:01):
it by Zoom.
So I love that we can offerthat to them.
I love that we can offer thatto them and they don't have to
be afraid that someone is goingto see them or figure out that
they're using these services.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So how did the partnership come about with
Summit, Did you I?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
mean, were you looking for something in
particular, as through one ofour board meetings we were
talking about it through thechiefs and also we have liaisons
right that represent us intopolice and a fire and it just
became a topic of conversation.
I know I had some otherconnections in with with summit
counseling reached out to them.
They have a phenomenal board.
They do got to meet those folksabout a year ago and they've
been absolute champions andwanted to get beyond the
(10:39):
schooling support that they doaround the communities but now
getting to supporting our firstresponders.
So it's became a greatconnection for both of us.
And again, they just lean intothis thing every year here and
they want to look to do more.
We're just sitting with SummitCounseling.
We're actually about to launchanother re-education session for
our first responders because,guess what, we get new first
responders right every year.
There's change in anyenvironment to which they may
(11:02):
not be as familiar with theservices that are available
through Summit.
So we actually just sent outinformation fund baskets last
week.
So Robin was running aroundwith Summit Counseling
delivering great baskets withGirl Scout cookies and info
packets.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I was going to say what actually constitutes a fun
basket Girl Scout cookies, GirlScout cookies.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
And just general goodies and snacks when they're
going on and off the job theycan grab a little snack.
But also there's an info packetfrom Summit Counseling and the
connection with MFRF to theservices that are available to,
which is a lead-in that in AprilMay timeframe we're actually
going to each facility, eachdepartment and doing education
sessions about what is availablethrough Summit, how to get
access to their services,because, again, you can do
(11:41):
on-site and meet them directly.
You can do a zoom call if youcan't get there, because the one
big thing we got to deal withtoo is many of our first
responders do not live in thecity of Milton they don't or
maybe not in the surroundingarea, in the jurisdictions right
we know some of our firstresponders travel two hours a
day to get to us.
They leave their communities toserve our communities two hours.
So we've got to find a way forthem to get access to those
(12:02):
services because maybe on theirday off they can't come up to
Milton or Alpharetta to actuallyget access to a counselor and
they do work quite an irregularschedule some weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Some weeks are better than others, and people on
night shift deal with a wholedifferent animal when it comes
to scheduling.
So I love that, and I love thatyou guys make it available, and
Summit has opened up theirhearts to make things available
for our first responders.
Okay, so, as we continue tolook at all these amazing things
(12:32):
that y'all are doing, let'stalk about financial support,
because that's a biggie, is youknow?
The foundation providesfinancial assistance to first
responders in need.
So how does the grant requestprocess work and what kinds of
situations have you been able toassist with?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, I'll take that.
Look, the main remit for thefoundation's existence.
Honestly, and sometimes I don'teven like to say it our main
responsibility and remit is tosupport those families and, God
forbid, an officer orfirefighter loses their life.
So we want to support thosefamilies financially in their
time of crisis and need.
So that's the main reason whywe started.
(13:09):
It's now expanded to many of theprograms we're talking about
today, to which we've expandedthis grant financial support
process as well, because there'sinstances every day, every week
, every month that we comeacross that first responders are
finding themselves in sort offinancial distress.
They could have one of theirsignificant others has gone
through a medical issue.
They only have insurancecoverage up to X or Y and
they've got a gap of Z.
(13:29):
They can actually approach ourorganization, mfrf, to get a
request put in through a simplecouple pieces of paper.
Tell us what happened.
We don't need chapter and verse, but show us again what has
taken place.
Any reciprocal receipts that weneed to see from an insurance
provider or the healthcareprovider or hospital, we review
that within 24 hours as a boardand I would say 99.5% of the
(13:52):
requests we get are approvedwithin 24 hours.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
It's amazing.
So this makes me wonder howcommon is it for a municipality
to have a foundation like this?
Is this seen quite a bit acrossthe country, or is this pretty
special?
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I think it's a little more common than maybe we think
.
Alfred Public Safety runs verysimilar to how we operate.
There are not enough of ourfoundations.
Let me go there.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
That answers a lot of the question.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
When I go to different in real estate.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Now that I am, I tour around and if I'm talking to I
see an officer.
I ask them do you have afoundation like this?
in your community, yes or no?
What do they do?
How far do they go?
What services do they provide?
So I'm always inquiring, butthere's not enough of these
foundations that exist and whileto your earlier point, it's a
lot of time and treasure that weput into this.
It's a labor of love and I knowcitizenry is out there to
(14:43):
support us, but we have to findways for citizenry and other
communities to get activated, totake advantage of and
supporting their firstresponders, because that's the
beauty of what we do.
Nobody says no to us In thiscommunity.
They love their firstresponders.
So they give and give and give,as well as small businesses and
other partnerships that we'vedone with Summit Counseling.
They want to support our firstresponders, so it's really not a
(15:05):
hard effort from thatperspective.
And that's where people mostlyget concerned is I've got to
raise money?
I don't want to raise money.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I don't want to ask people for money.
That's very daunting for someof us.
To ask somebody for money Forme, it's a terrible situation.
I would be a terrible, terriblefundraiser.
I can communicate for you frompoint A to point Z, but to ask
somebody for money makes me sonervous, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
But without that money we can't do these grant
processes.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's why we have you.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Yeah, exactly so, robin, you've got a few more
examples that you want to talkto, because we get involved in
this really every week.
We have some sort of process orrequest that's coming through
and it is funneled through ourliaisons, so our liaisons within
each of the departmentsactually gets the information
from that first responder triagethrough them.
Then we have a conversationreview that inspect everything
(15:53):
that we need to make sure thatgrant process is fulfilled.
We then get it to the boardmembers.
We scrub any sensitive orprivate data, hipaa compliance
rules and things like that.
We just share basic informationand we'll probably give our
first approvals on our side andthen the board comes forth
within 24 hours or less.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
And how many people are on the board.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
We've got five people on the board, five yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Okay, and growing.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
And growing and growing.
Yes, hopefully, yes.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
We'll get there.
I will say that I am proud ofwhat we have built over the last
10 years and we did havesomeone from the city of Roswell
come to us and ask for us tohelp them set up their own
foundation, and they kind ofmimicked it after our foundation
.
They liked the way we do things, they liked the way we run
things, what we do for our firstresponders, so that was really
(16:42):
great that someone out thererecognized all the hard work
that we've done and wanted tobuild their foundation after
ours.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, well, to your all's credit, since I've been
here I started in July everyevent I have been to, y'all are
there.
I mean you're at everything.
I mean you're at everything.
So when you say time commitment, it's a huge time commitment,
but beyond that, it demonstratesthe level of passion and
(17:10):
commitment and dedication thatyou have for what you're doing.
You believe in what you'redoing, and that goes such a long
way.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, I will say that as you get into this and you
start to meet all of the firstresponders, the fire people and
the police officers and suchthey're wonderful, and you can't
help but not want to do thisfor them.
I mean you put in that time, astired as you may be, or the
tears right before the concert.
You know you just want to dothis for them and then when you
(17:41):
realize how much money you'veraised, it just takes all that
away and they're so grateful.
They are so grateful I can'ttell you, with some of the
programs and some of the thingsthat we do for them, they'll see
you and they'll be like thankyou so much.
I can't tell you what adifference this has made for me
and my family.
So they just make it worth it.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And this is a group of people that puts aside
everything to go into trouble orinto a fire when everybody else
is coming out.
So the level of bravery andcourage that it takes to do what
they do and put everybody elsebefore them, to all of a sudden
have that flip back and get thesupport that y'all are giving
(18:23):
them, it's priceless.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Absolutely.
And what always is amazing tome is to Robin's point when they
see us out in the community andthat is the benefit when you're
a part of a foundation likethis in your community they know
who you are.
I'll see them at Kroger andthey park the truck and they're
getting their groceries and theysee me.
They're coming around and say,Brian, we can't thank the
foundation enough for what y'allare doing.
Yeah, right, and then we'rewalking through the grocery
store together, just, you know,piling it up and just talking
(18:46):
about things.
But, also it's an opportunityfor me to learn Are you getting
everything met?
Can we help in some other waysso we get literally ears to the
ground of what's happening, andcould we be doing more so?
It creates opportunities, butcollaboration.
Strategic growth andpartnership.
I always say, if you've everhad a really bad day at work, go
sit with a firefighter, apolice officer.
They'll radically change yourday and put a smile on your face
(19:06):
because of what they do andwhat they care for and the
stories they can share with youare just phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
We were just recently .
The mayor had a visit over atPhoenix Senior Living Center and
he walked in and everybody wasso gracious there and they were
so happy to have the mayor there.
Yet they still asked for thefirefighters.
Where are the firefighters?
He's like I'll make that happenbecause everybody loves them.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
a firefighter sorry pd, but I know, first request.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Anyway, we got a lot to cover here.
So one of the programs that I'mfamiliar with is the alive at
25 and it's a driver safetyprogram and you all took over
the management of it a few yearsago, yes, so tell us about this
program and why it's soimportant to our community.
I mean, I've got three kids, 25and under, youngest is 22.
(19:59):
Sorry, alec Go.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I know Robin does a lot of the coordination and
interfacing with the policedepartment of the staffing
that's required, the trainingthat's required, so I'll give it
to Robin here to come talkabout the program so a few years
ago I got with officer CharlesFannin and he has a love for
this.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
He wants to protect these kids that are out on the
road.
He's the traffic guru he is.
He is he's amazing too.
So he set up this program wherewe can get these kids in.
It's an in-person class, it'sfour hours.
They come in and they aretaught everything from A to Z
and then at the end of the classthere'll be a test and if they
(20:39):
do not pass they will sit witheach child individually and they
will make sure that they canpass the next time that they're
taking the test, make sure thatthey understand all the material
and how important it is fortheir safety that they
understand these laws.
So it's been a great program.
(20:59):
We've had a lot of people thankus for this.
People can also get a discounton their insurance policy and I
mean the kids are doing greatwith it.
We hardly see any repeatoffenders.
How often does this class run?
We do this class about four orfive times a month.
We try to offer it.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We try to offer it on Saturday mornings from 8 to 12
and then from 1 to 5.
But then also they addedanother class during the week,
on Thursdays, because they sawthat some people were working
and weren't able to get to theclass.
So, yeah, we try to accommodateeveryone.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Is this a voluntary class or is this one that when
somebody gets nabbed for aticket, they get sent to the
Alive at 25 class?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So it's both.
So usually we see kids thathave gotten a ticket and the
judges said okay, you can eithergo and take an online class or
you can go to this in-personclass.
So they will come to us fromalpharetta, john's creek in
forsyth county and then milton,wherever they get a ticket, and
they will take this class andthen the points won't go on
their license.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, I love that.
I'm not going to say I've everbeen through those classes
before, but I might, I may have.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
I may have taken my version of that class a time or
two, I did take the class whenthey first rolled it out with my
daughter and we were able toget a break on our insurance.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So yeah, it was wonderful you can be proactive
with the initiative as well, butalso is a very much a reactive
process to all this, and we'veseen an increase in the demand
right.
So that tells us.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
We've got a few speeders out there new kids
right, they're getting thelicense Again.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
we've all been there.
This is an opportunity to kindof get corrective action and
improve you, because you want tobe a good citizen on the road
as well as respect others on theroad to not get yourself into a
situation.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
There's a lot of responsibility for a 16,
17-year-old kid to take on.
I mean, we just have beenhanding it over to them for
years and years and years andthen you sit back and maybe it's
my age, I'm not sure, but Istart going.
That's a lot of responsibility,a lot of things to remember and
a very large moving object thatcan do some serious damage if
(23:02):
you're not paying attention.
And the fact that our phones andif anybody has listened to the
podcast with Chief Griffin thephones, it's such a thing and I
can count when I'm driving downthe road how many of them are
looking down at their phone.
Yes, scary.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yeah, very scary.
I mean, it's in an instant.
You can lose your life or killsomebody else, somebody else and
else, yeah, and you neverintended to Nope, but your life
can radically be shifted andchanged by doing something,
having that kind of action.
So that's why having usadminister and manage the
program, having on boardsomebody, but also if we've got
to train additional officers, aswe've increased demand, we've
had to add additional offers togo through the training, which
(23:41):
could be up to several thousanddollars for them to do the
training through the programAlive at 25 training program and
then to put them on board andthen the training materials that
we also afford through MFRF,goes in part and parcel with
every class that everybodyparticipates in.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And so what's the cost for the Alive at 25?
It's $50.
That's very reasonable.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
I think so too.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Absolutely, you should take it twice Robin, I
should you should take it twice,Robin.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
I should.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
It's a whole lot cheaper than a ticket.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Absolutely it is, and you don't want those points on
your license.
No, you don't.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
As we keep going through this, there's
educational grants and I'mreally curious about this
because education is such a bigdeal but it's so expensive.
It's hard to find what works,with schedules and cost and
everything else.
So can you tell us about someof the officers and firefighters
who have benefited from thisand why continuing education is
so important?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, I think it's something we've adopted almost
to the day of 10 years ago.
We've increased what we canactually allocate for additional
education and expenses for anofficer or firefighter so they
can approach us if they're goingthrough continued education for
a master's degree or a specialdegree that they're going after,
and the reason for that is wewant the most highly educated
(24:52):
police and fire force on theplanet, of course, and the great
news is we have many that havedone it on their own already or
now doing continued education,to which they're taking
advantage of these extendedservices through MFRF.
So it's really up to them.
They're going to go throughcontinuing education.
We just want to make sure theyare making sure they're aware of
these programs and initiativesto get a grant, financial grant
(25:12):
request for continuing educationand again, something we review
with the board and we loveapproving those right.
And we continue to increase thevalue of each one of these.
So it's another thing we'regoing to be talking about this
year.
Do we want to increase it evenfurther?
Do several more thousanddollars into each credit request
?
Because, we know, the costs ofeducation don't go lower, they
only go higher.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
That is correct.
I love that there are specialtycourses that also apply to that
.
Is that correct?
I mean things that would besuper specific to somebody's
position or their career pathalong the way, to somebody's
position or their career pathalong the way.
So it's not necessarily alljust a master's degree or a
bachelor's degree.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, if they're going to some other specialty
degree, then absolutely they canfile for that as well through
the grant process.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Right on For sure.
I love that.
So here's my favorite.
Here's my favorite, and I washere when y'all did some of this
this past year.
First responders often workthrough the holidays and I know
we're all so grateful for thetime and the commitment that
they give.
They miss time with theirfamilies to be ready to help all
(26:12):
of our families in a crisis.
So if you could tell us whatkind of support the MFRF provide
to show appreciation andrecognition for our first
responders during the holidayseason.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Well, the idea came to us during COVID because they
were working and they wereworking long hours and it was
very difficult for them.
They weren't able to be withtheir families.
So we decided we would providemeals for them.
So we had a partner in thecommunity, q Barbecue would make
meals and we would deliver itto them so that they could have
(26:45):
on shift meals.
But then also we at one pointdecided we would send meals home
with them to share with theirfamilies.
So it's kind of grown over theyears and now it's kind of gone
into a program where atChristmas, thanksgiving, for
those that have to work, weprovide meals.
(27:05):
Now PD will ask for actualmeals and so we will have that
delivered to them.
Where FD they'll want a giftcard and so we give them that so
that they can buy their ownfood.
They like to prepare their ownfood over at the fire station
and they're good cooks.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yes, well, they have a beautiful kitchen.
They really do.
It's impressive.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So it's been a great program and they appreciate it.
They do Again.
When we're out in the communitythey see us.
Thank you so much.
We appreciate all you do for us.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
That's a big gesture and I know it's greatly
appreciated.
So and that kind of leads usinto a fundraising, kind of
community involvement piece.
We spoke a little bit aboutfundraising a little earlier and
my fear of it, but to say thatnone of these programs, none of
(27:55):
what y'all do, would be possibleif it wasn't for the
fundraising and the communitysupport that y'all have.
So can you talk about some ofthe major fundraising events
that you have, like the annualconcert at Crabapple Market, and
how the community can getinvolved?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, it's again also vis-a-vis our website.
We have an ability for you tojust donate visa.
Our website easy donation pagealso has all the information
about the tax incentive programthat's available to everybody.
But mainly how we raise fundswas an annual concert.
We actually started with golftournaments 10 years ago.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
We need to bring that back.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I love golf, don't get me wrong, I'm on board with
you.
Okay, maybe we'll have to work.
The challenge we had with golfis the net return is not as
great as you would like it tohave.
Yeah, I'd like it to be.
And oh, by the way, it kind ofcatered to a certain population,
mainly male population.
Right now there's more femalesgetting involved with golf,
which is great I mean my wifegolf all the time.
But we wanted to involvecommunity, sure.
(28:51):
So we shifted away from golf,okay, uh, and moved into these
concerts, to which it proved tobe a great opportunity for us to
include the community, includeCrabapple Market, right, and the
green that we do the concertson, and this has been going on
for the last five, six plusyears.
Right at least Raised a fairamount of money through those
concerts, mainly through concertticket sales, but also silent
(29:12):
auction items and live auctionitems.
So we've gotten some greathigh-ticket items donated to us
from great organizations, greatfamilies, not only including
Georgia, but up into Kentuckyand other places that know us,
love us, love first respondersand they're donating maybe part
of their organization or whattheir company offers as a
service or gift to be a greatincentive for us to do a live
(29:34):
auction.
So those are great reasons whywe can do that entertain the
public.
Sure, Also, bring in our firstresponders.
We get the fire trucks outthere, police cars out there.
Everybody loves it, our firstresponders and their families
come to the concert as well.
So this year we're taking a bitof a pause.
On the cause, mainly we've puta lot of effort into the tax
incentive program to which Robinalready talked about.
(29:55):
While we filed for this and gotapproved in late Q4, q3, q4 of
last year, we've actuallyoutpaced what we raised in the
concert in Q4 of last year Wow.
So it's already been massivelyreceived.
We want to make this really abig focus for us as an
organization to really lean intothis.
And also, when we talk about aboard again we have an extension
(30:16):
of volunteers fire core.
I gotta throw a shout out tofire core john and uh, heather
queen.
They lend their resource to bevolunteers for us and some of
the extended I call extendedfamily members of mfrf
participate.
But it is a lot of work for usand the board said, hey, since
we've got this program andinitiative off the ground, let's
maybe take a year for a pauseon doing the concert, and this
(30:36):
is going to give us a chance toreevaluate.
Well, the concert's been great.
Is there another?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
avenue or.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Thing that we can look to do.
That could be just as powerfuland a great fundraiser that we
can continue to do in ourcommunity.
So those are all things we'rethinking about.
Getting together in a couple ofweeks as a board to think
through all that and kind of getready for how we want to launch
something new in 2026.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I look forward to it.
I can't wait.
I'm kind of sad I missed theconcert.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
They're fun, they're a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
It's a great date night.
Is that the one that you criedbefore?
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yes, yes, that's how I deal with stress.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
We're just going to leave that one there.
Okay, I'm not going to askanymore.
A lot of little things to getdone for a concert?
Yes, there are lots of.
Anytime you produce an event,it is a major, major overhaul
and there's so many details.
My daughter and I are thedirector of state pageants and I
can tell you that I have donemy fair share of crying before,
(31:32):
during and after.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yes, yeah, after is elation.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Sometimes it's elation.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Sometimes it's not, sometimes it's just sheer
exhaustion, but all in all, whenyou do those kinds of things,
there's so much satisfaction andjoy that you get to see when
people are enjoying it, andthat's really why this kind of
stuff happens, right?
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yes, and I recognize also.
You get to see really in liveaction the support this
community and the wallets openup.
It's wonderful and our firstresponders get to see that
because, again, they're doingtheir jobs every day.
They're not necessarily maybeat fun events like a concert
that we do Now they get to seelive how many people are raising
their hands.
Let me give you $5, thousanddollars and they'll just blow it
(32:15):
away blow it away on an easyfriday or saturday evening,
having a concert and they'rejust out there doing their job.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You know that's and that's their mentality.
It's my job yeah, so it's.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
It's great to see in action and see this community
just rally.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Continue to rally to support our first and this
community, as you said earlier,really, really loves their first
responders absolutely anamazing level of support.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
You're absolutely blessed as a community from that
perspective and again, they'reworth it.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
They are Absolutely 100% agree.
So you mentioned earlier aboutyour all-volunteer board right,
and I repeat, which allows everydollar donated to go directly
to our first responders.
Can you highlight some of yourkey board members and share how
people can get involved or jointhe board or support you all,
(33:03):
because I know it's a volunteerthing?
Let's see what we can do and ifwe can get some interest going.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
It's always a thing we'relooking for.
It's a big effort for us as aboard.
This year, as we don't have theconcert, let's focus on how we
can enhance the volunteerefforts.
How can we enhance additionalboard members To your point?
Christy, bringing what othercapabilities can you bring to
the table?
Right?
Robin's superpower.
She's a financial guru whiz,thank God.
(33:30):
I would be lost without her.
That's why I have brothersister right.
So thank goodness she does allthat.
And as well as the passion shehas for first responders.
I have the gift of gab.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
I have no fear of asking.
And connections in thecommunity.
And connections in thecommunity.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
I'm out and about quite a bit, so I have no fear
of asking for money right andsupporting our first responders
Again.
I typically never get a no, soit's a great question to ask.
I love that.
You know Jeanette Sita right,so she works here for the city
of Milton the permanent needsdepartment, so she's been with
us a number of years as well.
She also has no fear of askingfor silent auction items and she
will go anywhere at any time togo support our first funds.
(34:06):
If it's a silent auction shegets from a local business.
Here she's going.
Lots of times they're like, hey, jc, no, I got it, I got it,
I'll go, you, jc no.
I got it so it's that commitmentthat we have from folks like
that on the board that justmakes this a hell of a lot
easier.
And again, we now understandkind of our swim lanes and when
we go to do any specific effort,we know who can lean on to do
(34:28):
certain things.
And that's what we're lookingat for new board members.
While Robin's doing a lot ofthe financial work, we're
actually looking for andbringing on a new board member
and he also is a citizen ofMilton went through his Georgia
grad lives here now.
I was actually part of JamesonFinancial, so super excited to
have Jack Miller coming onto ourteam here in the next couple of
weeks and he actually wentthrough the Explorer program,
(34:48):
the Milton Explorer program.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Guess what?
He has a love for firstresponders.
Game set match.
These are the people we want,and when I asked him over a cup
of coffee three weeks ago, howcan I get involved, brian?
How can I be part of the board?
Right?
So that is the answer, and italso is allowing us to.
I call it MFRF 2.0, right?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Well-, I'm not going to try and say that.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
I know You're going to fumble and stumble, but we
also as a board recognize thatlife changes.
We need to be thinking aboutreadiness to hand off to the
next generation.
That's why I call it MFRF 2.0.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Jack is 20-something, loves first responders, great
job.
Has a financial background,great Right.
So as we look for new futureboard members we're also going
to be looking for a future young, diverse talent to come into
the board.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I love that and it presents new ideas, new thought
processes that really canenhance and grow the foundation
of what else could we be doing?
New energy sometimes can changethe direction of something very
quickly.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
You can't ever think of running a board or being a
part of a wedding.
You've got it all figured out.
We've got blind spots.
You need new energy and it'sour student and responsibility
to this community, to thisfoundation and to our first
responders to put it off in goodhands.
So when I sit back and I got myrocking chair over here in La
Coma Trace I can say, man, lookat First Responders Foundation,
(36:08):
just killing it again and I'mjust so proud of it.
Yeah, and I can still be a partof it, maybe just in a
different way in the years tocome.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Wow, that's fantastic .
It's been our baby for 10 years, so we want to make sure it
lands in the right hands.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Absolutely.
I have no doubt you guys willfind the talent and the
individuals with as much passionfor the purpose as y'all have.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
And we're always available.
You can find us through thewebsite.
Our emails are on there.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Go ahead and give us your website
wwwmiltonfirstrespondersorg.
That S is important.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
It is S is for safety .
Speaker 1 (36:45):
S is for safety.
I'm always thinking of it.
Yes, you are, it's the newtagline yes, there you go.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
We'll have to add that to the website.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Keep the S on for safety.
I'm getting in trouble sayingit that way, but yeah, so again
we're looking for volunteers.
Anybody interested in becominga board member?
Again, you may be at a point inyour life that you want to give
back to this community.
What a great way to be a partof a board, and it doesn't take
a ton of time right, it reallydoesn't.
(37:17):
When we of that we talk prettyoften, but once a quarter we're
getting together as a boardassessing, looking over
financials and new requests sortof coming down the line from
our liaisons and PD and.
FD.
So, and then we're looking fornew, fresh and ideas to be
brought to the table as wellthat we can institute.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
I love it.
I love it.
Anything else you want to addRobin Institute?
I love it, I love it.
Anything else you want to addRobin?
Before we wrap up here.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
It's been a wonderful ride.
I'm looking forward to thefuture and bringing on some new
volunteers.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn'tfor my awesome brother,
sergeant Scott Mulvey, so Iappreciate him thinking of me
when it was time to start thisboard.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
He's a great guy.
He is.
He's awesome.
Everybody loves Mulvey.
Everybody loves him.
Everybody loves him, that'sright, that's right.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
He should be mayor.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, we said Mulvey for mayor flows, it's going to
be an easy campaign.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
We'll just have to let him in on it so he knows yes
, Well, perfect.
Brian.
Robin, thank you both forjoining me today and for all of
the work that you do to supportour first responders.
For anyone listening who wantsto learn more, donate or get
involved, visitmiltonfirstrespondersorg, and if
(38:26):
you'd like to support MFRFthrough Georgia's tax credit
program, all the details are onthe website.
To our first responders, thankyou for your service, and to our
listeners, thank you for tuningin.
Be sure to subscribe to Miltonand Maine so you never miss an
episode.
And until next time, take careand stay safe.
Thanks for listening to Miltonand Maine.
We hope this episode gave youfresh insights into what makes
(38:49):
our city so special.
Stay connected and don't missan episode by subscribing to
this podcast on your favoriteplatform and following us on
social media for all updates.
And, of course, if you want tolearn more about the city, visit
us online at wwwmiltongagov forresources, news and upcoming
events.
Until next time, thanks forbeing part of the conversation
(39:12):
and we'll see you on the nextMilton and Maine.
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for
the city of Milton.
We want to bring you closer tothe heart of our community
through stories that inform,inspire and connect.
Each episode offers abehind-the-scenes look at the
people, projects and prioritiesshaping Milton, covering
everything from local governmentand future development to arts,
culture, sustainability andpublic safety.
(00:28):
Whether you're a resident, alocal business owner or just
curious about our city, this isyour front row seat to what
makes Milton special.
Welcome back to Milton in Maine.
I'm your host, christy Weeks,the communications manager for
the city of Milton, and todaywe're talking about an
organization that plays acritical role in supporting our
first responders the MiltonFirst Responder Foundation.
Joining me today are twoincredible guests, brian Dolan
(00:52):
and Robin Pinto, both whom havebeen deeply involved in the
foundation for over a decade.
We'll discuss the foundation'smissions, its programs and how
it supports our police officersand firefighters in meaningful
ways.
So let's get started.
First of all, brian, robin,thank you so much for being here
and, to start off, I'd love forour listeners to get to know
(01:14):
you both.
Can you each share a little bitabout your background and how
you came to be involved with thefoundation?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, let's see, about 10 years ago I got a call
from my brother who was anofficer in the Milton Police
Department and he said thatClaudine Wilkins, who started
the foundation, was going to gettogether a group of people to
form this board so that we couldserve our Milton first
(01:42):
responders, and he wanted toknow if I was interested.
So I said yes.
We went to a meeting and thencome May it'll be 10 years.
In May we had our first meeting, got together a board of like
nine people, and we decided thatyes, we were going to do this,
(02:03):
we were going to help them outby raising money and doing what
we could for them.
That's awesome.
Yeah, thank you for having ushere, christy.
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
It's been a very great ride for us and I got
involved as having over a35-plus year executive corporate
career.
There was a point in time in mycareer that I wasn't giving
back enough to my community andI really kind of let Harkin back
to my dad.
My dad was NYPD officer, grewup in the Bronx Bronx, new York
was awesome.
He actually worked in the SouthBronx at Fort Apache, so
there's actually a movie made ofhis precinct, fort Apache, the
(02:29):
Bronx, with Paul Newman.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Oh, write it down, I'm going to go watch it If
anyone want to go.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Look at it.
It is a great film.
But he was so passionate notonly by policing the streets,
getting kids off the streets,getting them into sports and
creating really an inspirationfor them and their families to
do something and getting themoff the streets versus maybe
getting into some trouble.
So he was just alwayspassionate about community.
(02:53):
So this came to me through RonWallace, who many of us all know
in the community.
He's been also an active memberin policing as well as the
Alfredo Public Safety.
And then he came to me aboutthe Milton First Responders
needing some leadership andsupport and taking it to the
next level.
And that's where I really gotto meet Robin and the team 10
years ago really.
We're almost pretty much to theday.
It's been pretty impressive andjust really looking at the
(03:16):
organization, where do we needto take it?
And just saw a greatopportunity to come in, support
our community, support our FirstResponders Every one of us on
the board today.
Right, we are volunteers,citizens of Milton, we love our
first responders and that's allwe need.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Wow.
You know I love hearing storieslike that because I think deep
inside everybody, we all go.
How can I get back?
How can I contribute?
What skill set do I have thatwould be beneficial?
And so the fact that y'allfound this 10 years ago and have
done such an amazing job withit is just absolutely incredible
(03:51):
, and I give you both a lot ofcredit for taking it on, because
I know it's a lot of time andit's a lot of commitment on your
part, but I also know that itpays off in the end.
It's got a deep-seated missionand great results.
So we're going to talk aboutsome of your developments.
(04:12):
You've got a lot going on,there's a lot to cover and I
want to make sure we touch on asmany as we can.
So one of the biggestdevelopments for the foundation
recently is your approval toparticipate in Georgia's tax
credit program under the LawEnforcement Strategic Support
Act or LESS Crime Act.
Can you explain how thisprogram works and what it means
to the Milton Police Department?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So the state of Georgia decided to roll out this
program that people couldallocate some of their Georgia
taxes to a qualified lawenforcement foundation, which we
applied for last year and wereapproved.
And so they go on to thewebsite, they put in what they
(04:55):
want to donate to the foundation, they get approval from the
state and then they make thedonation.
Within 60 days we get the money.
The money goes towards ourpolice department and we are
able to support them in any ofthe things that they need.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Sure, Any apparatus that they may need, right,
there's discussions aroundsalary augmentation and things
like that can be forwarded.
So we've become more in tunewith the city, right Maybe some
of the city needs andrequirements in the police
department.
So we're more ingrained withworking with Chief Griffin and
the team and the city as well,to really understand is there
some budget gap that's beencreated to which portion of
these proceeds can actually gotoward supporting those efforts
(05:35):
for Milton Police Department.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Right on, and so I'll be sure in the show notes to
include the website where allthis information can be found,
because I know people are goingto have questions, they're going
to want to join in, they'regoing to want to participate,
and some maybe just to get moreinformation about the work that
you're doing.
So all that will go in the shownotes, great.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's been a great program because we have already
received donations through thisprogram, so we know that it
works and we know that peopleare excited that their tax
dollars are going straight tothe Milton Police Department.
They know where they is.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I understand that there's a lot of different
important moving parts, but toknow that all of it goes
(06:32):
directly to the cause, nowthat's amazing, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
And it includes not only the citizens of Milton
right, or even if you havegrandparents that live in Canton
and they want to donate toMilton first responders
foundation as part of this prothis tax center program, they
can do that as well, as ourbusinesses can participate in
this program, so that couldactually be a very big
accelerator from fundraising forus for the tax incentive
program.
Oh, that's amazing.
I'll put it in the show notes,I promise we're going to get
(06:57):
that going.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So one of our last episodes we had the CARES
program on right, so we talkedto Derek and Mark for quite a
long time.
They had a wealth ofinformation to share and one of
the topics that came up wasmental health support and with
first responders it is socritical and I feel like and you
(07:21):
can correct me if I'm wrongit's one of the last things that
happens for them in general isaddressing some of the mental
health issues that do occur.
The things that they do see,experience, hear about their
whole world is something thatmost of us can't even process
Right, nor should we.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, no for sure, and we absolutely agree, and we
took this initiative almostthree to four years ago, where
we partnered up with SummitCounseling.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, and they're in Roswell.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we just got to be connecting with
Roswell.
We know what Roswell justrecently went through with and
the Labonte family Officer,labonte, was killed several
weeks back.
So we know that departmentneeded some additional help and
mental health support isrequired.
You know, when I look at my dad, right, mental health support
is required.
When I look at my dad mentalhealth back in those days in the
late 60s and early 70s even the80s wasn't even spoke about.
It was kind of a flaw in yourcharacter if you expressed any
(08:13):
sort of-.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was part of the job.
It was part of the job.
Ptsd was something that is justpart of the job that you've got
to deal with.
That's your deal.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Just live through it.
It's great to see now such atransformational shift in
understanding mental health andawareness and being mentally fit
for the job, not onlyphysically fit for the job.
Correct.
And I got to give massivecredit to the leadership of this
city, right From the mayor ondown, city manager Krokoff,
leadership right.
Our chiefs are rallied allbehind this.
(08:40):
It is spoken about openly.
And please raise your hand.
It's not looked as a negativebut as a positive that you're
looking for help and support,and let's face it.
It's not only what they see onthe job potentially, but also
let's face it we're all havefamilies, lives we have kids
that have school issues, drugissues, I mean there's so many
(09:01):
issues.
Family related issues, marriageissues we all face that, yeah,
and we all need help at somepoint in time.
It's great that we have aprogram to raise your hand, say
I need some help, and thispartnership with Summit
Counseling affords every firstresponder and their immediate
family members to get freecounseling services for them and
their immediate family members.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I absolutely love that.
That and fun fact about uhsummit counseling is when they
opened.
I was with an addictiontreatment center at the time
working for them and was able tobe there on their opening and
what a phenomenal group ofpeople oh yeah they have done a
great job building theirprograms and being available, so
kudos to that and they want tocontinue to do more.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I was going to say, the best part of the whole
program is that it's totallyconfidential.
So if a first responder wantsto get help but doesn't want to
be seen going into their office,they have Zoom sessions so they
can accommodate.
If they don't live close toMilton or Roswell, they can do
(10:01):
it by Zoom.
So I love that we can offerthat to them.
I love that we can offer thatto them and they don't have to
be afraid that someone is goingto see them or figure out that
they're using these services.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So how did the partnership come about with
Summit, Did you I?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
mean, were you looking for something in
particular, as through one ofour board meetings we were
talking about it through thechiefs and also we have liaisons
right that represent us intopolice and a fire and it just
became a topic of conversation.
I know I had some otherconnections in with with summit
counseling reached out to them.
They have a phenomenal board.
They do got to meet those folksabout a year ago and they've
been absolute champions andwanted to get beyond the
(10:39):
schooling support that they doaround the communities but now
getting to supporting our firstresponders.
So it's became a greatconnection for both of us.
And again, they just lean intothis thing every year here and
they want to look to do more.
We're just sitting with SummitCounseling.
We're actually about to launchanother re-education session for
our first responders because,guess what, we get new first
responders right every year.
There's change in anyenvironment to which they may
(11:02):
not be as familiar with theservices that are available
through Summit.
So we actually just sent outinformation fund baskets last
week.
So Robin was running aroundwith Summit Counseling
delivering great baskets withGirl Scout cookies and info
packets.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I was going to say what actually constitutes a fun
basket Girl Scout cookies, GirlScout cookies.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
And just general goodies and snacks when they're
going on and off the job theycan grab a little snack.
But also there's an info packetfrom Summit Counseling and the
connection with MFRF to theservices that are available to,
which is a lead-in that in AprilMay timeframe we're actually
going to each facility, eachdepartment and doing education
sessions about what is availablethrough Summit, how to get
access to their services,because, again, you can do
(11:41):
on-site and meet them directly.
You can do a zoom call if youcan't get there, because the one
big thing we got to deal withtoo is many of our first
responders do not live in thecity of Milton they don't or
maybe not in the surroundingarea, in the jurisdictions right
we know some of our firstresponders travel two hours a
day to get to us.
They leave their communities toserve our communities two hours.
So we've got to find a way forthem to get access to those
(12:02):
services because maybe on theirday off they can't come up to
Milton or Alpharetta to actuallyget access to a counselor and
they do work quite an irregularschedule some weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Some weeks are better than others, and people on
night shift deal with a wholedifferent animal when it comes
to scheduling.
So I love that, and I love thatyou guys make it available, and
Summit has opened up theirhearts to make things available
for our first responders.
Okay, so, as we continue tolook at all these amazing things
(12:32):
that y'all are doing, let'stalk about financial support,
because that's a biggie, is youknow?
The foundation providesfinancial assistance to first
responders in need.
So how does the grant requestprocess work and what kinds of
situations have you been able toassist with?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, I'll take that.
Look, the main remit for thefoundation's existence.
Honestly, and sometimes I don'teven like to say it our main
responsibility and remit is tosupport those families and, God
forbid, an officer orfirefighter loses their life.
So we want to support thosefamilies financially in their
time of crisis and need.
So that's the main reason whywe started.
(13:09):
It's now expanded to many of theprograms we're talking about
today, to which we've expandedthis grant financial support
process as well, because there'sinstances every day, every week
, every month that we comeacross that first responders are
finding themselves in sort offinancial distress.
They could have one of theirsignificant others has gone
through a medical issue.
They only have insurancecoverage up to X or Y and
they've got a gap of Z.
(13:29):
They can actually approach ourorganization, mfrf, to get a
request put in through a simplecouple pieces of paper.
Tell us what happened.
We don't need chapter and verse, but show us again what has
taken place.
Any reciprocal receipts that weneed to see from an insurance
provider or the healthcareprovider or hospital, we review
that within 24 hours as a boardand I would say 99.5% of the
(13:52):
requests we get are approvedwithin 24 hours.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
It's amazing.
So this makes me wonder howcommon is it for a municipality
to have a foundation like this?
Is this seen quite a bit acrossthe country, or is this pretty
special?
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I think it's a little more common than maybe we think
.
Alfred Public Safety runs verysimilar to how we operate.
There are not enough of ourfoundations.
Let me go there.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
That answers a lot of the question.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
When I go to different in real estate.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Now that I am, I tour around and if I'm talking to I
see an officer.
I ask them do you have afoundation like this?
in your community, yes or no?
What do they do?
How far do they go?
What services do they provide?
So I'm always inquiring, butthere's not enough of these
foundations that exist and whileto your earlier point, it's a
lot of time and treasure that weput into this.
It's a labor of love and I knowcitizenry is out there to
(14:43):
support us, but we have to findways for citizenry and other
communities to get activated, totake advantage of and
supporting their firstresponders, because that's the
beauty of what we do.
Nobody says no to us In thiscommunity.
They love their firstresponders.
So they give and give and give,as well as small businesses and
other partnerships that we'vedone with Summit Counseling.
They want to support our firstresponders, so it's really not a
(15:05):
hard effort from thatperspective.
And that's where people mostlyget concerned is I've got to
raise money?
I don't want to raise money.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I don't want to ask people for money.
That's very daunting for someof us.
To ask somebody for money Forme, it's a terrible situation.
I would be a terrible, terriblefundraiser.
I can communicate for you frompoint A to point Z, but to ask
somebody for money makes me sonervous, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
But without that money we can't do these grant
processes.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's why we have you.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Yeah, exactly so, robin, you've got a few more
examples that you want to talkto, because we get involved in
this really every week.
We have some sort of process orrequest that's coming through
and it is funneled through ourliaisons, so our liaisons within
each of the departmentsactually gets the information
from that first responder triagethrough them.
Then we have a conversationreview that inspect everything
(15:53):
that we need to make sure thatgrant process is fulfilled.
We then get it to the boardmembers.
We scrub any sensitive orprivate data, hipaa compliance
rules and things like that.
We just share basic informationand we'll probably give our
first approvals on our side andthen the board comes forth
within 24 hours or less.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
And how many people are on the board.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
We've got five people on the board, five yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Okay, and growing.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
And growing and growing.
Yes, hopefully, yes.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
We'll get there.
I will say that I am proud ofwhat we have built over the last
10 years and we did havesomeone from the city of Roswell
come to us and ask for us tohelp them set up their own
foundation, and they kind ofmimicked it after our foundation
.
They liked the way we do things, they liked the way we run
things, what we do for our firstresponders, so that was really
(16:42):
great that someone out thererecognized all the hard work
that we've done and wanted tobuild their foundation after
ours.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, well, to your all's credit, since I've been
here I started in July everyevent I have been to, y'all are
there.
I mean you're at everything.
I mean you're at everything.
So when you say time commitment, it's a huge time commitment,
but beyond that, it demonstratesthe level of passion and
(17:10):
commitment and dedication thatyou have for what you're doing.
You believe in what you'redoing, and that goes such a long
way.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, I will say that as you get into this and you
start to meet all of the firstresponders, the fire people and
the police officers and suchthey're wonderful, and you can't
help but not want to do thisfor them.
I mean you put in that time, astired as you may be, or the
tears right before the concert.
You know you just want to dothis for them and then when you
(17:41):
realize how much money you'veraised, it just takes all that
away and they're so grateful.
They are so grateful I can'ttell you, with some of the
programs and some of the thingsthat we do for them, they'll see
you and they'll be like thankyou so much.
I can't tell you what adifference this has made for me
and my family.
So they just make it worth it.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And this is a group of people that puts aside
everything to go into trouble orinto a fire when everybody else
is coming out.
So the level of bravery andcourage that it takes to do what
they do and put everybody elsebefore them, to all of a sudden
have that flip back and get thesupport that y'all are giving
(18:23):
them, it's priceless.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Absolutely.
And what always is amazing tome is to Robin's point when they
see us out in the community andthat is the benefit when you're
a part of a foundation likethis in your community they know
who you are.
I'll see them at Kroger andthey park the truck and they're
getting their groceries and theysee me.
They're coming around and say,Brian, we can't thank the
foundation enough for what y'allare doing.
Yeah, right, and then we'rewalking through the grocery
store together, just, you know,piling it up and just talking
(18:46):
about things.
But, also it's an opportunityfor me to learn Are you getting
everything met?
Can we help in some other waysso we get literally ears to the
ground of what's happening, andcould we be doing more so?
It creates opportunities, butcollaboration.
Strategic growth andpartnership.
I always say, if you've everhad a really bad day at work, go
sit with a firefighter, apolice officer.
They'll radically change yourday and put a smile on your face
(19:06):
because of what they do andwhat they care for and the
stories they can share with youare just phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
We were just recently .
The mayor had a visit over atPhoenix Senior Living Center and
he walked in and everybody wasso gracious there and they were
so happy to have the mayor there.
Yet they still asked for thefirefighters.
Where are the firefighters?
He's like I'll make that happenbecause everybody loves them.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
a firefighter sorry pd, but I know, first request.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Anyway, we got a lot to cover here.
So one of the programs that I'mfamiliar with is the alive at
25 and it's a driver safetyprogram and you all took over
the management of it a few yearsago, yes, so tell us about this
program and why it's soimportant to our community.
I mean, I've got three kids, 25and under, youngest is 22.
(19:59):
Sorry, alec Go.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I know Robin does a lot of the coordination and
interfacing with the policedepartment of the staffing
that's required, the trainingthat's required, so I'll give it
to Robin here to come talkabout the program so a few years
ago I got with officer CharlesFannin and he has a love for
this.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
He wants to protect these kids that are out on the
road.
He's the traffic guru he is.
He is he's amazing too.
So he set up this program wherewe can get these kids in.
It's an in-person class, it'sfour hours.
They come in and they aretaught everything from A to Z
and then at the end of the classthere'll be a test and if they
(20:39):
do not pass they will sit witheach child individually and they
will make sure that they canpass the next time that they're
taking the test, make sure thatthey understand all the material
and how important it is fortheir safety that they
understand these laws.
So it's been a great program.
(20:59):
We've had a lot of people thankus for this.
People can also get a discounton their insurance policy and I
mean the kids are doing greatwith it.
We hardly see any repeatoffenders.
How often does this class run?
We do this class about four orfive times a month.
We try to offer it.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We try to offer it on Saturday mornings from 8 to 12
and then from 1 to 5.
But then also they addedanother class during the week,
on Thursdays, because they sawthat some people were working
and weren't able to get to theclass.
So, yeah, we try to accommodateeveryone.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Is this a voluntary class or is this one that when
somebody gets nabbed for aticket, they get sent to the
Alive at 25 class?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So it's both.
So usually we see kids thathave gotten a ticket and the
judges said okay, you can eithergo and take an online class or
you can go to this in-personclass.
So they will come to us fromalpharetta, john's creek in
forsyth county and then milton,wherever they get a ticket, and
they will take this class andthen the points won't go on
their license.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, I love that.
I'm not going to say I've everbeen through those classes
before, but I might, I may have.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
I may have taken my version of that class a time or
two, I did take the class whenthey first rolled it out with my
daughter and we were able toget a break on our insurance.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So yeah, it was wonderful you can be proactive
with the initiative as well, butalso is a very much a reactive
process to all this, and we'veseen an increase in the demand
right.
So that tells us.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
We've got a few speeders out there new kids
right, they're getting thelicense Again.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
we've all been there.
This is an opportunity to kindof get corrective action and
improve you, because you want tobe a good citizen on the road
as well as respect others on theroad to not get yourself into a
situation.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
There's a lot of responsibility for a 16,
17-year-old kid to take on.
I mean, we just have beenhanding it over to them for
years and years and years andthen you sit back and maybe it's
my age, I'm not sure, but Istart going.
That's a lot of responsibility,a lot of things to remember and
a very large moving object thatcan do some serious damage if
(23:02):
you're not paying attention.
And the fact that our phones andif anybody has listened to the
podcast with Chief Griffin thephones, it's such a thing and I
can count when I'm driving downthe road how many of them are
looking down at their phone.
Yes, scary.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yeah, very scary.
I mean, it's in an instant.
You can lose your life or killsomebody else, somebody else and
else, yeah, and you neverintended to Nope, but your life
can radically be shifted andchanged by doing something,
having that kind of action.
So that's why having usadminister and manage the
program, having on boardsomebody, but also if we've got
to train additional officers, aswe've increased demand, we've
had to add additional offers togo through the training, which
(23:41):
could be up to several thousanddollars for them to do the
training through the programAlive at 25 training program and
then to put them on board andthen the training materials that
we also afford through MFRF,goes in part and parcel with
every class that everybodyparticipates in.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And so what's the cost for the Alive at 25?
It's $50.
That's very reasonable.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
I think so too.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Absolutely, you should take it twice Robin, I
should you should take it twice,Robin.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
I should.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
It's a whole lot cheaper than a ticket.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Absolutely it is, and you don't want those points on
your license.
No, you don't.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
As we keep going through this, there's
educational grants and I'mreally curious about this
because education is such a bigdeal but it's so expensive.
It's hard to find what works,with schedules and cost and
everything else.
So can you tell us about someof the officers and firefighters
who have benefited from thisand why continuing education is
so important?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, I think it's something we've adopted almost
to the day of 10 years ago.
We've increased what we canactually allocate for additional
education and expenses for anofficer or firefighter so they
can approach us if they're goingthrough continued education for
a master's degree or a specialdegree that they're going after,
and the reason for that is wewant the most highly educated
(24:52):
police and fire force on theplanet, of course, and the great
news is we have many that havedone it on their own already or
now doing continued education,to which they're taking
advantage of these extendedservices through MFRF.
So it's really up to them.
They're going to go throughcontinuing education.
We just want to make sure theyare making sure they're aware of
these programs and initiativesto get a grant, financial grant
(25:12):
request for continuing educationand again, something we review
with the board and we loveapproving those right.
And we continue to increase thevalue of each one of these.
So it's another thing we'regoing to be talking about this
year.
Do we want to increase it evenfurther?
Do several more thousanddollars into each credit request
?
Because, we know, the costs ofeducation don't go lower, they
only go higher.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
That is correct.
I love that there are specialtycourses that also apply to that
.
Is that correct?
I mean things that would besuper specific to somebody's
position or their career pathalong the way, to somebody's
position or their career pathalong the way.
So it's not necessarily alljust a master's degree or a
bachelor's degree.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, if they're going to some other specialty
degree, then absolutely they canfile for that as well through
the grant process.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Right on For sure.
I love that.
So here's my favorite.
Here's my favorite, and I washere when y'all did some of this
this past year.
First responders often workthrough the holidays and I know
we're all so grateful for thetime and the commitment that
they give.
They miss time with theirfamilies to be ready to help all
(26:12):
of our families in a crisis.
So if you could tell us whatkind of support the MFRF provide
to show appreciation andrecognition for our first
responders during the holidayseason.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Well, the idea came to us during COVID because they
were working and they wereworking long hours and it was
very difficult for them.
They weren't able to be withtheir families.
So we decided we would providemeals for them.
So we had a partner in thecommunity, q Barbecue would make
meals and we would deliver itto them so that they could have
(26:45):
on shift meals.
But then also we at one pointdecided we would send meals home
with them to share with theirfamilies.
So it's kind of grown over theyears and now it's kind of gone
into a program where atChristmas, thanksgiving, for
those that have to work, weprovide meals.
(27:05):
Now PD will ask for actualmeals and so we will have that
delivered to them.
Where FD they'll want a giftcard and so we give them that so
that they can buy their ownfood.
They like to prepare their ownfood over at the fire station
and they're good cooks.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yes, well, they have a beautiful kitchen.
They really do.
It's impressive.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So it's been a great program and they appreciate it.
They do Again.
When we're out in the communitythey see us.
Thank you so much.
We appreciate all you do for us.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
That's a big gesture and I know it's greatly
appreciated.
So and that kind of leads usinto a fundraising, kind of
community involvement piece.
We spoke a little bit aboutfundraising a little earlier and
my fear of it, but to say thatnone of these programs, none of
(27:55):
what y'all do, would be possibleif it wasn't for the
fundraising and the communitysupport that y'all have.
So can you talk about some ofthe major fundraising events
that you have, like the annualconcert at Crabapple Market, and
how the community can getinvolved?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, it's again also vis-a-vis our website.
We have an ability for you tojust donate visa.
Our website easy donation pagealso has all the information
about the tax incentive programthat's available to everybody.
But mainly how we raise fundswas an annual concert.
We actually started with golftournaments 10 years ago.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
We need to bring that back.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I love golf, don't get me wrong, I'm on board with
you.
Okay, maybe we'll have to work.
The challenge we had with golfis the net return is not as
great as you would like it tohave.
Yeah, I'd like it to be.
And oh, by the way, it kind ofcatered to a certain population,
mainly male population.
Right now there's more femalesgetting involved with golf,
which is great I mean my wifegolf all the time.
But we wanted to involvecommunity, sure.
(28:51):
So we shifted away from golf,okay, uh, and moved into these
concerts, to which it proved tobe a great opportunity for us to
include the community, includeCrabapple Market, right, and the
green that we do the concertson, and this has been going on
for the last five, six plusyears.
Right at least Raised a fairamount of money through those
concerts, mainly through concertticket sales, but also silent
(29:12):
auction items and live auctionitems.
So we've gotten some greathigh-ticket items donated to us
from great organizations, greatfamilies, not only including
Georgia, but up into Kentuckyand other places that know us,
love us, love first respondersand they're donating maybe part
of their organization or whattheir company offers as a
service or gift to be a greatincentive for us to do a live
(29:34):
auction.
So those are great reasons whywe can do that entertain the
public.
Sure, Also, bring in our firstresponders.
We get the fire trucks outthere, police cars out there.
Everybody loves it, our firstresponders and their families
come to the concert as well.
So this year we're taking a bitof a pause.
On the cause, mainly we've puta lot of effort into the tax
incentive program to which Robinalready talked about.
(29:55):
While we filed for this and gotapproved in late Q4, q3, q4 of
last year, we've actuallyoutpaced what we raised in the
concert in Q4 of last year Wow.
So it's already been massivelyreceived.
We want to make this really abig focus for us as an
organization to really lean intothis.
And also, when we talk about aboard again we have an extension
(30:16):
of volunteers fire core.
I gotta throw a shout out tofire core john and uh, heather
queen.
They lend their resource to bevolunteers for us and some of
the extended I call extendedfamily members of mfrf
participate.
But it is a lot of work for usand the board said, hey, since
we've got this program andinitiative off the ground, let's
maybe take a year for a pauseon doing the concert, and this
(30:36):
is going to give us a chance toreevaluate.
Well, the concert's been great.
Is there another?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
avenue or.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Thing that we can look to do.
That could be just as powerfuland a great fundraiser that we
can continue to do in ourcommunity.
So those are all things we'rethinking about.
Getting together in a couple ofweeks as a board to think
through all that and kind of getready for how we want to launch
something new in 2026.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I look forward to it.
I can't wait.
I'm kind of sad I missed theconcert.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
They're fun, they're a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
It's a great date night.
Is that the one that you criedbefore?
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yes, yes, that's how I deal with stress.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
We're just going to leave that one there.
Okay, I'm not going to askanymore.
A lot of little things to getdone for a concert?
Yes, there are lots of.
Anytime you produce an event,it is a major, major overhaul
and there's so many details.
My daughter and I are thedirector of state pageants and I
can tell you that I have donemy fair share of crying before,
(31:32):
during and after.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yes, yeah, after is elation.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Sometimes it's elation.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Sometimes it's not, sometimes it's just sheer
exhaustion, but all in all, whenyou do those kinds of things,
there's so much satisfaction andjoy that you get to see when
people are enjoying it, andthat's really why this kind of
stuff happens, right?
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yes, and I recognize also.
You get to see really in liveaction the support this
community and the wallets openup.
It's wonderful and our firstresponders get to see that
because, again, they're doingtheir jobs every day.
They're not necessarily maybeat fun events like a concert
that we do Now they get to seelive how many people are raising
their hands.
Let me give you $5, thousanddollars and they'll just blow it
(32:15):
away blow it away on an easyfriday or saturday evening,
having a concert and they'rejust out there doing their job.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You know that's and that's their mentality.
It's my job yeah, so it's.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
It's great to see in action and see this community
just rally.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Continue to rally to support our first and this
community, as you said earlier,really, really loves their first
responders absolutely anamazing level of support.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
You're absolutely blessed as a community from that
perspective and again, they'reworth it.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
They are Absolutely 100% agree.
So you mentioned earlier aboutyour all-volunteer board right,
and I repeat, which allows everydollar donated to go directly
to our first responders.
Can you highlight some of yourkey board members and share how
people can get involved or jointhe board or support you all,
(33:03):
because I know it's a volunteerthing?
Let's see what we can do and ifwe can get some interest going.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
It's always a thing we'relooking for.
It's a big effort for us as aboard.
This year, as we don't have theconcert, let's focus on how we
can enhance the volunteerefforts.
How can we enhance additionalboard members To your point?
Christy, bringing what othercapabilities can you bring to
the table?
Right?
Robin's superpower.
She's a financial guru whiz,thank God.
(33:30):
I would be lost without her.
That's why I have brothersister right.
So thank goodness she does allthat.
And as well as the passion shehas for first responders.
I have the gift of gab.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
I have no fear of asking.
And connections in thecommunity.
And connections in thecommunity.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
I'm out and about quite a bit, so I have no fear
of asking for money right andsupporting our first responders
Again.
I typically never get a no, soit's a great question to ask.
I love that.
You know Jeanette Sita right,so she works here for the city
of Milton the permanent needsdepartment, so she's been with
us a number of years as well.
She also has no fear of askingfor silent auction items and she
will go anywhere at any time togo support our first funds.
(34:06):
If it's a silent auction shegets from a local business.
Here she's going.
Lots of times they're like, hey, jc, no, I got it, I got it,
I'll go, you, jc no.
I got it so it's that commitmentthat we have from folks like
that on the board that justmakes this a hell of a lot
easier.
And again, we now understandkind of our swim lanes and when
we go to do any specific effort,we know who can lean on to do
(34:28):
certain things.
And that's what we're lookingat for new board members.
While Robin's doing a lot ofthe financial work, we're
actually looking for andbringing on a new board member
and he also is a citizen ofMilton went through his Georgia
grad lives here now.
I was actually part of JamesonFinancial, so super excited to
have Jack Miller coming onto ourteam here in the next couple of
weeks and he actually wentthrough the Explorer program,
(34:48):
the Milton Explorer program.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Guess what?
He has a love for firstresponders.
Game set match.
These are the people we want,and when I asked him over a cup
of coffee three weeks ago, howcan I get involved, brian?
How can I be part of the board?
Right?
So that is the answer, and italso is allowing us to.
I call it MFRF 2.0, right?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Well-, I'm not going to try and say that.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
I know You're going to fumble and stumble, but we
also as a board recognize thatlife changes.
We need to be thinking aboutreadiness to hand off to the
next generation.
That's why I call it MFRF 2.0.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Jack is 20-something, loves first responders, great
job.
Has a financial background,great Right.
So as we look for new futureboard members we're also going
to be looking for a future young, diverse talent to come into
the board.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I love that and it presents new ideas, new thought
processes that really canenhance and grow the foundation
of what else could we be doing?
New energy sometimes can changethe direction of something very
quickly.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
You can't ever think of running a board or being a
part of a wedding.
You've got it all figured out.
We've got blind spots.
You need new energy and it'sour student and responsibility
to this community, to thisfoundation and to our first
responders to put it off in goodhands.
So when I sit back and I got myrocking chair over here in La
Coma Trace I can say, man, lookat First Responders Foundation,
(36:08):
just killing it again and I'mjust so proud of it.
Yeah, and I can still be a partof it, maybe just in a
different way in the years tocome.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Wow, that's fantastic .
It's been our baby for 10 years, so we want to make sure it
lands in the right hands.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Absolutely.
I have no doubt you guys willfind the talent and the
individuals with as much passionfor the purpose as y'all have.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
And we're always available.
You can find us through thewebsite.
Our emails are on there.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Go ahead and give us your website
wwwmiltonfirstrespondersorg.
That S is important.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
It is S is for safety .
Speaker 1 (36:45):
S is for safety.
I'm always thinking of it.
Yes, you are, it's the newtagline yes, there you go.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
We'll have to add that to the website.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Keep the S on for safety.
I'm getting in trouble sayingit that way, but yeah, so again
we're looking for volunteers.
Anybody interested in becominga board member?
Again, you may be at a point inyour life that you want to give
back to this community.
What a great way to be a partof a board, and it doesn't take
a ton of time right, it reallydoesn't.
(37:17):
When we of that we talk prettyoften, but once a quarter we're
getting together as a boardassessing, looking over
financials and new requests sortof coming down the line from
our liaisons and PD and.
FD.
So, and then we're looking fornew, fresh and ideas to be
brought to the table as wellthat we can institute.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
I love it.
I love it.
Anything else you want to addRobin Institute?
I love it, I love it.
Anything else you want to addRobin?
Before we wrap up here.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
It's been a wonderful ride.
I'm looking forward to thefuture and bringing on some new
volunteers.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn'tfor my awesome brother,
sergeant Scott Mulvey, so Iappreciate him thinking of me
when it was time to start thisboard.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
He's a great guy.
He is.
He's awesome.
Everybody loves Mulvey.
Everybody loves him.
Everybody loves him, that'sright, that's right.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
He should be mayor.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, we said Mulvey for mayor flows, it's going to
be an easy campaign.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
We'll just have to let him in on it so he knows yes
, Well, perfect.
Brian.
Robin, thank you both forjoining me today and for all of
the work that you do to supportour first responders.
For anyone listening who wantsto learn more, donate or get
involved, visitmiltonfirstrespondersorg, and if
(38:26):
you'd like to support MFRFthrough Georgia's tax credit
program, all the details are onthe website.
To our first responders, thankyou for your service, and to our
listeners, thank you for tuningin.
Be sure to subscribe to Miltonand Maine so you never miss an
episode.
And until next time, take careand stay safe.
Thanks for listening to Miltonand Maine.
We hope this episode gave youfresh insights into what makes
(38:49):
our city so special.
Stay connected and don't missan episode by subscribing to
this podcast on your favoriteplatform and following us on
social media for all updates.
And, of course, if you want tolearn more about the city, visit
us online at wwwmiltongagov forresources, news and upcoming
events.
Until next time, thanks forbeing part of the conversation
(39:12):
and we'll see you on the nextMilton and Maine.
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