Milton and Mane

Serving Those Who Serve: Milton First Responders Foundation

• Steve Krokoff and Christy Weeks

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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.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for the city of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. Welcome back to Milton in Maine.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, christy Weeks, the communications manager for the city of Milton, and today we're talking about an organization that plays a critical role in supporting our first responders the Milton First Responder Foundation. Joining me today are two incredible guests, brian Dolan and Robin Pinto, both whom have been deeply involved in the foundation for over a decade. We'll discuss the foundation's missions, its programs and how it supports our police officers and 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 for our listeners to get to know you both. Can you each share a little bit about your background and how you came to be involved with the foundation?

Speaker 2:

Well, let's see, about 10 years ago I got a call from my brother who was an officer in the Milton Police Department and he said that Claudine Wilkins, who started the foundation, was going to get together a group of people to form this board so that we could serve our Milton first responders, and he wanted to know if I was interested. So I said yes. We went to a meeting and then come May it'll be 10 years. In May we had our first meeting, got together a board of like nine people, and we decided that yes, we were going to do this, we were going to help them out by raising money and doing what we could for them. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you for having us here, christy. Yeah, of course.

Speaker 3:

It's been a very great ride for us and I got involved as having over a 35-plus year executive corporate career. There was a point in time in my career that I wasn't giving back enough to my community and I really kind of let Harkin back to my dad. My dad was NYPD officer, grew up in the Bronx Bronx, new York was awesome. He actually worked in the South Bronx at Fort Apache, so there's actually a movie made of his precinct, fort Apache, the Bronx, with Paul Newman.

Speaker 1:

Oh, write it down, I'm going to go watch it If anyone want to go.

Speaker 3:

Look at it. It is a great film. But he was so passionate not only by policing the streets, getting kids off the streets, getting them into sports and creating really an inspiration for them and their families to do something and getting them off the streets versus maybe getting into some trouble. So he was just always passionate about community. So this came to me through Ron Wallace, who many of us all know in the community. He's been also an active member in policing as well as the Alfredo Public Safety. And then he came to me about the Milton First Responders needing some leadership and support and taking it to the next level. And that's where I really got to meet Robin and the team 10 years ago really.

Speaker 3:

We're almost pretty much to the day. It's been pretty impressive and just really looking at the organization, where do we need to take it? And just saw a great opportunity to come in, support our community, support our First Responders Every one of us on the board today. Right, we are volunteers, citizens of Milton, we love our first responders and that's all we need.

Speaker 1:

Wow. You know I love hearing stories like 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 that would be beneficial? And so the fact that y'all found this 10 years ago and have done such an amazing job with it is just absolutely incredible, and I give you both a lot of credit for taking it on, because I know it's a lot of time and it's a lot of commitment on your part, but I also know that it pays off in the end. It's got a deep-seated mission and great results. So we're going to talk about some of your developments. You've got a lot going on, there's a lot to cover and I want to make sure we touch on as many as we can. So one of the biggest developments for the foundation recently is your approval to participate in Georgia's tax credit program under the Law Enforcement Strategic Support Act or LESS Crime Act. Can you explain how this program works and what it means to the Milton Police Department?

Speaker 2:

So the state of Georgia decided to roll out this program that people could allocate some of their Georgia taxes to a qualified law enforcement foundation, which we applied for last year and were approved. And so they go on to the website, they put in what they want to donate to the foundation, they get approval from the state and then they make the donation. Within 60 days we get the money. The money goes towards our police department and we are able to support them in any of the things that they need.

Speaker 3:

Sure, Any apparatus that they may need, right, there's discussions around salary augmentation and things like that can be forwarded. So we've become more in tune with the city, right Maybe some of the city needs and requirements in the police department. So we're more ingrained with working with Chief Griffin and the team and the city as well, to really understand is there some budget gap that's been created to which portion of these proceeds can actually go toward supporting those efforts for Milton Police Department.

Speaker 1:

Right on, and so I'll be sure in the show notes to include the website where all this information can be found, because I know people are going to have questions, they're going to want to join in, they're going to want to participate, and some maybe just to get more information about the work that you're doing. So all that will go in the show notes, great.

Speaker 2:

It's been a great program because we have already received donations through this program, so we know that it works and we know that people are excited that their tax dollars are going straight to the Milton Police Department. They know where they is.

Speaker 1:

I understand that there's a lot of different important moving parts, but to know that all of it goes directly to the cause, now that's amazing, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

And it includes not only the citizens of Milton right, or even if you have grandparents that live in Canton and they want to donate to Milton first responders foundation as part of this pro this tax center program, they can do that as well, as our businesses can participate in this program, so that could actually be a very big accelerator from fundraising for us for the tax incentive program. Oh, that's amazing. I'll put it in the show notes, I promise we're going to get that going.

Speaker 1:

So one of our last episodes we had the CARES program on right, so we talked to Derek and Mark for quite a long time. They had a wealth of information to share and one of the topics that came up was mental health support and with first responders it is so critical and I feel like and you can correct me if I'm wrong it's one of the last things that happens for them in general is addressing some of the mental health issues that do occur. The things that they do see, experience, hear about their whole world is something that most of us can't even process Right, nor should we.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no for sure, and we absolutely agree, and we took this initiative almost three to four years ago, where we partnered up with Summit Counseling.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and they're in Roswell.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yeah, yeah, we just got to be connecting with Roswell. We know what Roswell just recently went through with and the Labonte family Officer, labonte, was killed several weeks back. So we know that department needed some additional help and mental health support is required. You know, when I look at my dad, right, mental health support is required.

Speaker 3:

When I look at my dad mental health back in those days in the late 60s and early 70s even the 80s wasn't even spoke about. It was kind of a flaw in your character if you expressed any sort of-.

Speaker 1:

It was part of the job. It was part of the job. Ptsd was something that is just part of the job that you've got to deal with. That's your deal.

Speaker 3:

Just live through it. It's great to see now such a transformational shift in understanding mental health and awareness and being mentally fit for the job, not only physically fit for the job. Correct. And I got to give massive credit to the leadership of this city, right From the mayor on down, city manager Krokoff, leadership right. Our chiefs are rallied all behind this. It is spoken about openly.

Speaker 3:

And please raise your hand. It's not looked as a negative but as a positive that you're looking for help and support, and let's face it. It's not only what they see on the job potentially, but also let's face it we're all have families, lives we have kids that have school issues, drug issues, I mean there's so many issues.

Speaker 3:

Family related issues, marriage issues we all face that, yeah, and we all need help at some point in time. It's great that we have a program to raise your hand, say I need some help, and this partnership with Summit Counseling affords every first responder and their immediate family members to get free counseling services for them and their immediate family members.

Speaker 1:

I absolutely love that. That and fun fact about uh summit counseling is when they opened. I was with an addiction treatment center at the time working for them and was able to be there on their opening and what a phenomenal group of people oh yeah they have done a great job building their programs and being available, so kudos to that and they want to continue to do more.

Speaker 2:

I was going to say, the best part of the whole program is that it's totally confidential. So if a first responder wants to 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 to Milton or Roswell, they can do it by Zoom. So I love that we can offer that to them. I love that we can offer that to them and they don't have to be afraid that someone is going to see them or figure out that they're using these services.

Speaker 1:

So how did the partnership come about with Summit, Did you I?

Speaker 3:

mean, were you looking for something in particular, as through one of our board meetings we were talking about it through the chiefs and also we have liaisons right that represent us into police and a fire and it just became a topic of conversation. I know I had some other connections in with with summit counseling reached out to them. They have a phenomenal board. They do got to meet those folks about a year ago and they've been absolute champions and wanted to get beyond the schooling support that they do around the communities but now getting to supporting our first responders. So it's became a great connection for both of us. And again, they just lean into this thing every year here and they want to look to do more.

Speaker 3:

We're just sitting with Summit Counseling. We're actually about to launch another re-education session for our first responders because, guess what, we get new first responders right every year. There's change in any environment to which they may not be as familiar with the services that are available through Summit. So we actually just sent out information fund baskets last week. So Robin was running around with Summit Counseling delivering great baskets with Girl Scout cookies and info packets.

Speaker 1:

I was going to say what actually constitutes a fun basket Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout cookies.

Speaker 3:

And just general goodies and snacks when they're going on and off the job they can grab a little snack. But also there's an info packet from Summit Counseling and the connection with MFRF to the services that are available to, which is a lead-in that in April May timeframe we're actually going to each facility, each department and doing education sessions about what is available through Summit, how to get access to their services, because, again, you can do on-site and meet them directly. You can do a zoom call if you can't get there, because the one big thing we got to deal with too is many of our first responders do not live in the city of Milton they don't or maybe not in the surrounding area, in the jurisdictions right we know some of our first responders travel two hours a day to get to us.

Speaker 3:

They leave their communities to serve our communities two hours. So we've got to find a way for them to get access to those services because maybe on their day off they can't come up to Milton or Alpharetta to actually get access to a counselor and they do work quite an irregular schedule some weeks.

Speaker 1:

Some weeks are better than others, and people on night shift deal with a whole different animal when it comes to scheduling. So I love that, and I love that you guys make it available, and Summit has opened up their hearts to make things available for our first responders. Okay, so, as we continue to look at all these amazing things that y'all are doing, let's talk about financial support, because that's a biggie, is you know? The foundation provides financial assistance to first responders in need. So how does the grant request process work and what kinds of situations have you been able to assist with?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'll take that. Look, the main remit for the foundation's existence. Honestly, and sometimes I don't even like to say it our main responsibility and remit is to support those families and, God forbid, an officer or firefighter loses their life. So we want to support those families financially in their time of crisis and need. So that's the main reason why we started.

Speaker 3:

It's now expanded to many of the programs we're talking about today, to which we've expanded this grant financial support process as well, because there's instances every day, every week, every month that we come across that first responders are finding themselves in sort of financial distress. They could have one of their significant others has gone through a medical issue. They only have insurance coverage up to X or Y and they've got a gap of Z. They can actually approach our organization, mfrf, to get a request put in through a simple couple 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 we need to see from an insurance provider or the healthcare provider or hospital, we review that within 24 hours as a board and I would say 99.5% of the requests we get are approved within 24 hours.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing. So this makes me wonder how common is it for a municipality to have a foundation like this? Is this seen quite a bit across the country, or is this pretty special?

Speaker 3:

I think it's a little more common than maybe we think. Alfred Public Safety runs very similar to how we operate. There are not enough of our foundations. Let me go there.

Speaker 1:

That answers a lot of the question.

Speaker 2:

When I go to different in real estate.

Speaker 3:

Now that I am, I tour around and if I'm talking to I see an officer. I ask them do you have a foundation like this?

Speaker 3:

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, but there's not enough of these foundations that exist and while to your earlier point, it's a lot of time and treasure that we put into this. It's a labor of love and I know citizenry is out there to support us, but we have to find ways for citizenry and other communities to get activated, to take advantage of and supporting their first responders, because that's the beauty of what we do. Nobody says no to us In this community. They love their first responders.

Speaker 3:

So they give and give and give, as well as small businesses and other partnerships that we've done with Summit Counseling. They want to support our first responders, so it's really not a hard effort from that perspective. And that's where people mostly get concerned is I've got to raise money? I don't want to raise money.

Speaker 1:

I don't want to ask people for money. That's very daunting for some of us. To ask somebody for money For me, it's a terrible situation. I would be a terrible, terrible fundraiser. I can communicate for you from point A to point Z, but to ask somebody for money makes me so nervous, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

But without that money we can't do these grant processes.

Speaker 1:

That's why we have you.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, exactly so, robin, you've got a few more examples that you want to talk to, because we get involved in this really every week.

Speaker 3:

We have some sort of process or request that's coming through and it is funneled through our liaisons, so our liaisons within each of the departments actually gets the information from that first responder triage through them. Then we have a conversation review that inspect everything that we need to make sure that grant process is fulfilled. We then get it to the board members. We scrub any sensitive or private data, hipaa compliance rules and things like that. We just share basic information and we'll probably give our first approvals on our side and then the board comes forth within 24 hours or less.

Speaker 1:

And how many people are on the board.

Speaker 3:

We've got five people on the board, five yeah.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and growing.

Speaker 3:

And growing and growing. Yes, hopefully, yes.

Speaker 2:

We'll get there. I will say that I am proud of what we have built over the last 10 years and we did have someone from the city of Roswell come to us and ask for us to help them set up their own foundation, and they kind of mimicked it after our foundation. They liked the way we do things, they liked the way we run things, what we do for our first responders, so that was really great that someone out there recognized all the hard work that we've done and wanted to build their foundation after ours.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, to your all's credit, since I've been here I started in July every event 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 demonstrates the level of passion and commitment and dedication that you have for what you're doing. You believe in what you're doing, and that goes such a long way.

Speaker 2:

Well, I will say that as you get into this and you start to meet all of the first responders, the fire people and the police officers and such they're wonderful, and you can't help but not want to do this for them.

Speaker 2:

I mean you put in that time, as tired as you may be, or the tears right before the concert. You know you just want to do this for them and then when you realize how much money you've raised, it just takes all that away and they're so grateful. They are so grateful I can't tell you, with some of the programs and some of the things that we do for them, they'll see you and they'll be like thank you so much. I can't tell you what a difference this has made for me and my family. So they just make it worth it.

Speaker 1:

And this is a group of people that puts aside everything to go into trouble or into a fire when everybody else is coming out. So the level of bravery and courage that it takes to do what they do and put everybody else before them, to all of a sudden have that flip back and get the support that y'all are giving them, it's priceless.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. And what always is amazing to me is to Robin's point when they see us out in the community and that is the benefit when you're a part of a foundation like this in your community they know who you are. I'll see them at Kroger and they park the truck and they're getting their groceries and they see me. They're coming around and say, Brian, we can't thank the foundation enough for what y'all are doing. Yeah, right, and then we're walking through the grocery store together, just, you know, piling it up and just talking about things.

Speaker 3:

But, also it's an opportunity for me to learn Are you getting everything met? Can we help in some other ways so we get literally ears to the ground of what's happening, and could we be doing more so? It creates opportunities, but collaboration. Strategic growth and partnership. I always say, if you've ever had a really bad day at work, go sit with a firefighter, a police officer. They'll radically change your day and put a smile on your face because of what they do and what they care for and the stories they can share with you are just phenomenal.

Speaker 1:

We were just recently. The mayor had a visit over at Phoenix Senior Living Center and he walked in and everybody was so gracious there and they were so happy to have the mayor there. Yet they still asked for the firefighters. Where are the firefighters? He's like I'll make that happen because everybody loves them.

Speaker 2:

a firefighter sorry pd, but I know, first request.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, we got a lot to cover here. So one of the programs that I'm familiar with is the alive at 25 and it's a driver safety program and you all took over the management of it a few years ago, yes, so tell us about this program and why it's so important to our community. I mean, I've got three kids, 25 and under, youngest is 22. Sorry, alec Go.

Speaker 3:

I know Robin does a lot of the coordination and interfacing with the police department of the staffing that's required, the training that's required, so I'll give it to Robin here to come talk about the program so a few years ago I got with officer Charles Fannin and he has a love for this.

Speaker 2:

He wants to protect these kids that are out on the road. He's the traffic guru he is.

Speaker 2:

He is he's amazing too. So he set up this program where we can get these kids in. It's an in-person class, it's four hours. They come in and they are taught everything from A to Z and then at the end of the class there'll be a test and if they do not pass they will sit with each child individually and they will make sure that they can pass the next time that they're taking the test, make sure that they understand all the material and how important it is for their safety that they understand these laws. So it's been a great program. We've had a lot of people thank us for this. People can also get a discount on their insurance policy and I mean the kids are doing great with it. We hardly see any repeat offenders. How often does this class run? We do this class about four or five times a month. We try to offer it.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

We try to offer it on Saturday mornings from 8 to 12 and then from 1 to 5. But then also they added another class during the week, on Thursdays, because they saw that some people were working and weren't able to get to the class. So, yeah, we try to accommodate everyone.

Speaker 1:

Is this a voluntary class or is this one that when somebody gets nabbed for a ticket, they get sent to the Alive at 25 class?

Speaker 2:

So it's both. So usually we see kids that have gotten a ticket and the judges said okay, you can either go and take an online class or you can go to this in-person class. So they will come to us from alpharetta, john's creek in forsyth county and then milton, wherever they get a ticket, and they will take this class and then the points won't go on their license.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I love that. I'm not going to say I've ever been through those classes before, but I might, I may have.

Speaker 2:

I may have taken my version of that class a time or two, I did take the class when they first rolled it out with my daughter and we were able to get a break on our insurance. That's awesome.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, it was wonderful you can be proactive with the initiative as well, but also is a very much a reactive process to all this, and we've seen an increase in the demand right. So that tells us.

Speaker 2:

We've got a few speeders out there new kids right, they're getting the license Again.

Speaker 3:

we've all been there. This is an opportunity to kind of get corrective action and improve you, because you want to be a good citizen on the road as well as respect others on the road to not get yourself into a situation.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of responsibility for a 16, 17-year-old kid to take on. I mean, we just have been handing it over to them for years and years and years and then you sit back and maybe it's my age, I'm not sure, but I start going. That's a lot of responsibility, a lot of things to remember and a very large moving object that can do some serious damage if you're not paying attention.

Speaker 1:

And the fact that our phones and if anybody has listened to the podcast with Chief Griffin the phones, it's such a thing and I can count when I'm driving down the road how many of them are looking down at their phone. Yes, scary.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, very scary. I mean, it's in an instant. You can lose your life or kill somebody else, somebody else and else, yeah, and you never intended to Nope, but your life can radically be shifted and changed by doing something, having that kind of action. So that's why having us administer and manage the program, having on board somebody, but also if we've got to train additional officers, as we've increased demand, we've had to add additional offers to go through the training, which could be up to several thousand dollars for them to do the training through the program Alive at 25 training program and then to put them on board and then the training materials that we also afford through MFRF, goes in part and parcel with every class that everybody participates in.

Speaker 1:

And so what's the cost for the Alive at 25? It's $50. That's very reasonable.

Speaker 2:

I think so too.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely, you should take it twice Robin, I should you should take it twice, Robin.

Speaker 2:

I should.

Speaker 1:

It's a whole lot cheaper than a ticket. I'll tell you that.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely it is, and you don't want those points on your license. No, you don't.

Speaker 1:

As we keep going through this, there's educational grants and I'm really curious about this because education is such a big deal 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 some of the officers and firefighters who have benefited from this and why continuing education is so important?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think it's something we've adopted almost to the day of 10 years ago. We've increased what we can actually allocate for additional education and expenses for an officer or firefighter so they can approach us if they're going through continued education for a master's degree or a special degree that they're going after, and the reason for that is we want the most highly educated police and fire force on the planet, of course, and the great news is we have many that have done it on their own already or now doing continued education, to which they're taking advantage of these extended services through MFRF. So it's really up to them. They're going to go through continuing education. We just want to make sure they are making sure they're aware of these programs and initiatives to get a grant, financial grant request for continuing education and again, something we review with the board and we love approving those right.

Speaker 3:

And we continue to increase the value of each one of these. So it's another thing we're going to be talking about this year. Do we want to increase it even further? Do several more thousand dollars into each credit request? Because, we know, the costs of education don't go lower, they only go higher.

Speaker 1:

That is correct. I love that there are specialty courses that also apply to that. Is that correct? I mean things that would be super specific to somebody's position or their career path along the way, to somebody's position or their career path along the way. So it's not necessarily all just a master's degree or a bachelor's degree.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, if they're going to some other specialty degree, then absolutely they can file for that as well through the grant process.

Speaker 1:

Right on For sure. I love that. So here's my favorite. Here's my favorite, and I was here when y'all did some of this this past year. First responders often work through the holidays and I know we're all so grateful for the time and the commitment that they give. They miss time with their families to be ready to help all of our families in a crisis. So if you could tell us what kind of support the MFRF provide to show appreciation and recognition for our first responders during the holiday season.

Speaker 2:

Well, the idea came to us during COVID because they were working and they were working long hours and it was very difficult for them. They weren't able to be with their families. So we decided we would provide meals for them. So we had a partner in the community, q Barbecue would make meals and we would deliver it to them so that they could have on shift meals. But then also we at one point decided we would send meals home with them to share with their families. So it's kind of grown over the years and now it's kind of gone into a program where at Christmas, thanksgiving, for those that have to work, we provide meals. Now PD will ask for actual meals and so we will have that delivered to them. Where FD they'll want a gift card and so we give them that so that they can buy their own food. They like to prepare their own food over at the fire station and they're good cooks.

Speaker 1:

Yes, well, they have a beautiful kitchen. They really do. It's impressive.

Speaker 2:

So it's been a great program and they appreciate it. They do Again. When we're out in the community they see us. Thank you so much. We appreciate all you do for us.

Speaker 1:

That's a big gesture and I know it's greatly appreciated. So and that kind of leads us into a fundraising, kind of community involvement piece. We spoke a little bit about fundraising a little earlier and my fear of it, but to say that none of these programs, none of what y'all do, would be possible if it wasn't for the fundraising and the community support that y'all have. So can you talk about some of the major fundraising events that you have, like the annual concert at Crabapple Market, and how the community can get involved?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's again also vis-a-vis our website. We have an ability for you to just donate visa. Our website easy donation page also has all the information about the tax incentive program that's available to everybody. But mainly how we raise funds was an annual concert. We actually started with golf tournaments 10 years ago.

Speaker 1:

We need to bring that back.

Speaker 3:

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 golf is the net return is not as great as you would like it to have. Yeah, I'd like it to be. And oh, by the way, it kind of catered to a certain population, mainly male population. Right now there's more females getting involved with golf, which is great I mean my wife golf all the time. But we wanted to involve community, sure. So we shifted away from golf, okay, uh, and moved into these concerts, to which it proved to be a great opportunity for us to include the community, include Crabapple Market, right, and the green that we do the concerts on, and this has been going on for the last five, six plus years. Right at least Raised a fair amount of money through those concerts, mainly through concert ticket sales, but also silent auction items and live auction items.

Speaker 3:

So we've gotten some great high-ticket items donated to us from great organizations, great families, not only including Georgia, but up into Kentucky and other places that know us, love us, love first responders and they're donating maybe part of their organization or what their company offers as a service or gift to be a great incentive for us to do a live auction. So those are great reasons why we can do that entertain the public. Sure, Also, bring in our first responders. We get the fire trucks out there, police cars out there.

Speaker 3:

Everybody loves it, our first responders and their families come to the concert as well. So this year we're taking a bit of a pause. On the cause, mainly we've put a lot of effort into the tax incentive program to which Robin already talked about. While we filed for this and got approved in late Q4, q3, q4 of last year, we've actually outpaced what we raised in the concert in Q4 of last year Wow. So it's already been massively received. We want to make this really a big focus for us as an organization to really lean into this. And also, when we talk about a board again we have an extension of volunteers fire core. I gotta throw a shout out to fire core john and uh, heather queen.

Speaker 3:

They lend their resource to be volunteers for us and some of the extended I call extended family members of mfrf participate. But it is a lot of work for us and the board said, hey, since we've got this program and initiative off the ground, let's maybe take a year for a pause on doing the concert, and this is going to give us a chance to reevaluate. Well, the concert's been great. Is there another?

Speaker 1:

avenue or.

Speaker 3:

Thing that we can look to do. That could be just as powerful and a great fundraiser that we can continue to do in our community. So those are all things we're thinking about. Getting together in a couple of weeks as a board to think through all that and kind of get ready for how we want to launch something new in 2026.

Speaker 1:

I look forward to it. I can't wait. I'm kind of sad I missed the concert.

Speaker 3:

They're fun, they're a lot of fun.

Speaker 1:

It's a great date night. Is that the one that you cried before?

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, that's how I deal with stress.

Speaker 1:

We're just going to leave that one there. Okay, I'm not going to ask anymore. A lot of little things to get done 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 the director of state pageants and I can tell you that I have done my fair share of crying before, during and after.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yeah, after is elation.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely. Sometimes it's elation.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it's not, sometimes it's just sheer exhaustion, but all in all, when you do those kinds of things, there's so much satisfaction and joy that you get to see when people are enjoying it, and that's really why this kind of stuff happens, right?

Speaker 3:

Yes, and I recognize also. You get to see really in live action the support this community and the wallets open up. It's wonderful and our first responders get to see that because, again, they're doing their jobs every day. They're not necessarily maybe at fun events like a concert that we do Now they get to see live how many people are raising their hands. Let me give you $5, thousand dollars and they'll just blow it away blow it away on an easy friday or saturday evening, having a concert and they're just out there doing their job.

Speaker 1:

You know that's and that's their mentality. It's my job yeah, so it's.

Speaker 3:

It's great to see in action and see this community just rally.

Speaker 1:

Continue to rally to support our first and this community, as you said earlier, really, really loves their first responders absolutely an amazing level of support.

Speaker 2:

You're absolutely blessed as a community from that perspective and again, they're worth it.

Speaker 1:

They are Absolutely 100% agree. So you mentioned earlier about your all-volunteer board right, and I repeat, which allows every dollar donated to go directly to our first responders. Can you highlight some of your key board members and share how people can get involved or join the board or support you all, because I know it's a volunteer thing? Let's see what we can do and if we can get some interest going.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I appreciate that. It's always a thing we're looking for. It's a big effort for us as a board. This year, as we don't have the concert, let's focus on how we can enhance the volunteer efforts. How can we enhance additional board members To your point? Christy, bringing what other capabilities can you bring to the table? Right? Robin's superpower. She's a financial guru whiz, thank God. I would be lost without her. That's why I have brother sister right. So thank goodness she does all that.

Speaker 3:

And as well as the passion she has for first responders. I have the gift of gab.

Speaker 2:

I have no fear of asking. And connections in the community. And connections in the community.

Speaker 3:

I'm out and about quite a bit, so I have no fear of asking for money right and supporting our first responders Again. I typically never get a no, so it'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 needs department, so she's been with us a number of years as well.

Speaker 3:

She also has no fear of asking for silent auction items and she will go anywhere at any time to go support our first funds. If it's a silent auction she gets 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.

Speaker 3:

I got it so it's that commitment that we have from folks like that on the board that just makes this a hell of a lot easier. And again, we now understand kind of our swim lanes and when we go to do any specific effort, we know who can lean on to do certain things. And that's what we're looking at for new board members. While Robin's doing a lot of the financial work, we're actually looking for and bringing on a new board member and he also is a citizen of Milton went through his Georgia grad lives here now. I was actually part of Jameson Financial, so super excited to have Jack Miller coming onto our team here in the next couple of weeks and he actually went through the Explorer program, the Milton Explorer program.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's amazing.

Speaker 3:

Guess what? He has a love for first responders. Game set match. These are the people we want, and when I asked him over a cup of coffee three weeks ago, how can I get involved, brian? How can I be part of the board? Right? So that is the answer, and it also is allowing us to. I call it MFRF 2.0, right?

Speaker 1:

Well-, I'm not going to try and say that.

Speaker 3:

I know You're going to fumble and stumble, but we also as a board recognize that life changes. We need to be thinking about readiness to hand off to the next generation. That's why I call it MFRF 2.0.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha.

Speaker 3:

Jack is 20-something, loves first responders, great job. Has a financial background, great Right. So as we look for new future board members we're also going to be looking for a future young, diverse talent to come into the board.

Speaker 1:

I love that and it presents new ideas, new thought processes that really can enhance and grow the foundation of what else could we be doing? New energy sometimes can change the direction of something very quickly.

Speaker 3:

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's our student and responsibility to this community, to this foundation and to our first responders to put it off in good hands. So when I sit back and I got my rocking chair over here in La Coma Trace I can say, man, look at First Responders Foundation, just killing it again and I'm just so proud of it. Yeah, and I can still be a part of it, maybe just in a different way in the years to come.

Speaker 2:

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:

Absolutely. I have no doubt you guys will find the talent and the individuals with as much passion for the purpose as y'all have. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And we're always available. You can find us through the website. Our emails are on there.

Speaker 1:

Go ahead and give us your website wwwmiltonfirstrespondersorg. That S is important.

Speaker 3:

It is S is for safety.

Speaker 1:

S is for safety. I'm always thinking of it. Yes, you are, it's the new tagline yes, there you go.

Speaker 2:

We'll have to add that to the website.

Speaker 3:

Keep the S on for safety. I'm getting in trouble saying it that way, but yeah, so again we're looking for volunteers. Anybody interested in becoming a board member? Again, you may be at a point in your life that you want to give back to this community. What a great way to be a part of a board, and it doesn't take a ton of time right, it really doesn't. When we of that we talk pretty often, but once a quarter we're getting together as a board assessing, looking over financials and new requests sort of coming down the line from our liaisons and PD and.

Speaker 3:

FD. So, and then we're looking for new, fresh and ideas to be brought to the table as well that we can institute.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love it. Anything else you want to add Robin Institute? I love it, I love it. Anything else you want to add Robin? Before we wrap up here.

Speaker 2:

It's been a wonderful ride. I'm looking forward to the future and bringing on some new volunteers. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my awesome brother, sergeant Scott Mulvey, so I appreciate him thinking of me when it was time to start this board.

Speaker 1:

He's a great guy. He is. He's awesome. Everybody loves Mulvey. Everybody loves him. Everybody loves him, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 2:

He should be mayor.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we said Mulvey for mayor flows, it's going to be an easy campaign.

Speaker 1:

We'll just have to let him in on it so he knows yes, Well, perfect. Brian. Robin, thank you both for joining me today and for all of the work that you do to support our first responders. For anyone listening who wants to learn more, donate or get involved, visit miltonfirstrespondersorg, and if you'd like to support MFRF through Georgia's tax credit program, all the details are on the website. To our first responders, thank you for your service, and to our listeners, thank you for tuning in.

Speaker 1:

Be sure to subscribe to Milton and Maine so you never miss an episode. And until next time, take care and stay safe. Thanks for listening to Milton and Maine. We hope this episode gave you fresh insights into what makes our city so special. Stay connected and don't miss an episode by subscribing to this podcast on your favorite platform and following us on social media for all updates. And, of course, if you want to learn more about the city, visit us online at wwwmiltongagov for resources, news and upcoming events. Until next time, thanks for being part of the conversation and we'll see you on the next Milton and Maine.