FMCA EXPO New Dates/GoFundMe/Tangible Donations

Dear Members,

We heard back from the hotel today with the new dates. We will be having the FMCA Expo on the weekend of January 6th through the 8th of 2023. We will put a formal advertisement out soon. I just wanted to get this message to everyone now for any planning that needs to happen right away. This was the only weekend available to us without affecting our rates. It is our plan to keep the format exactly as planned. Thank you again for your patience and working with us so that we can focus on our members in need.

Speaking of our members, we received 2 more calls today with members that were devastated by Hurricane Ian. I am sure that as the days pass, we will hear from more members. It really is sad! We want to do everything we can to assist all of them. I have set up a GoFundMe account with a goal of $100,000. I have pledged $1,000.00 to show my commitment to this organization including our membership. I am hoping that we can come close or exceed this goal so that we can make a meaningful impact for our members in need. See the process for collecting written in the GoFundMe App. Here is the link:

https://gofund.me/9e8a759c

We are also looking for tangible donations as we have had many members call and state that they have barges, floating platforms, gas cans, generators, paper goods, personal hygiene supplies, food and so on that they would like to loan or donate. If you have something that you feel could help, please reach out to me (John Loftis) at John@loftismarine.com or Kelly at kelly@kwhiteinsurance.com. We will connect you with the person in need to work out getting the item from you and into the hands of the member in need. If you do donate, please keep good record for tax purposes.

Last, I have created a Telegram Messaging Group for everyone to join that wants to get messages out right away. We have been using this tool for our company for years and it is very effective. First, you will need to download the Telegram Messaging App from your app store or at this link:

https://telegram.org/

Once you have done so, you can click on this link to add you to the group:

https://t.me/+wpVN0Yw2NgEzMzFh

I will be getting info out to the membership using this FMCA Telegram app as my primary.  

Thanks to ALL of you for your help!

Respectfully,

John Loftis
President of The Florida Marine Contractors Association