By John Jarvis

Generous Hughes Marino Mini Goalers,

Is it just me, or have First Responders been in the news quite a bit lately. Too much, I am sure we all agree. But stuff happens and aren’t we all grateful that there are people in this world who answer the call.

Heather, Hope and Sophia accomplished our February Mini Goal by bringing dinner to their local fire station this month! The firefighters were so moved and even gave them a tour! Elizabeth stopped by her local urgent care to say thank you to a nurse and her team for showing her compassion and kindness during a past visit and brought some them some coffee and treats.

Briana sent 10 thank you notes to police departments across the community to express her appreciation and gratitude for the work they do every day to help keep our cities safe. Briana and Elizabeth also donated to the firefighter boot drive to help support burn victims. Our friend Angela baked a delicious apple pie for her local fire fighters. She brought along one of her kindergartners and used the opportunity as a moment to teach about sharing and kindness. Her story really touched our hearts. Way to go Angela! We are loving all the generosity we witnessed in February and are excited to start fresh with a new goal!

For my part, I chose to “appreciate” the National Outdoor Leadership School, aka NOLS, with a modest financial contribution. I spend a fair amount of time taking trips into the wilderness and when things go wrong in that setting, you can feel very much alone. Which makes me appreciate NOLS and the training programs they run for wilderness first responders and wilderness first aid. Below is a picture of me with two of my past NOLS instructors, Bob Schoultz and Lynn Petzold. Both are highly competent and trained as wilderness first responders and both are capable and willing to getting people out of trouble. I have seen it first-hand.

And now Bob is going to get my appreciation two months in a row. You see, Bob is also a Navy Seal. And the March HM Mini Goal is to:

Honor our Veterans

It can sound corny, but whenever I see a man or woman in uniform, I try to make a point to say to them “thank you for your service!” They defend our freedom at home and abroad. They put themselves in harm’s way by choice. For us. They are a special breed—and if we appreciate our great country and the freedoms we enjoy every day—then that appreciation can begin with the veterans who put on the uniform and step forward to help to preserve our quality of life.

I can’t wait to hear about the various ways we all will show our appreciation for our veterans in the month of March. Tell us your stories. And send us your pictures to minigoals@hughesmarino.com and be sure to tag us!

This is how we grow.