Letter to the Editor that appears in this weeks Flemingsburg Gazette: Haters of A Better Community & negative people (you know who you are or maybe you dont, and thats why you continue to be negative), Ive got to get this off my chest. Ive tried to remain positive and, in many cases, responded directly to you with positive comments about A Better Community and our mission. But just this once, Ill respond in a more open, transparent manner publicly. Like many of you, I found out in April that another round of teachers were likely to be cut in Fleming County Schools. I banded together with a group of other folks that also have an affinity for Ag education, our FFA program and the success of our local students - past, present and future and spoke up on behalf of our Ag program at a public hearing and to the KDE. We held a parade to rally the support for our Ag program. We reminded folks of the fact that 58% of FCHS students choose to take an Ag class each year; of our awards, academic achievement and community service; and that our Ag program continues to equip our students with valuable life skills, work ethic and leadership ability that benefit them as human beings as well as our community as a whole. Once again, like many of you, I found out in early May that one of our Ag teacher positions, along with two other teachers, was being cut for the upcoming school year. At this point - like you - I had three choices: 1. Do nothing 2. Complain / be negative or 3. Do something positive So, along with several other folks that also didnt like being in groups 1 or 2, I started a non-profit - A Better Community. None of us had ever started a non-profit. But we did something. Over 300 people have joined this cause so far, raising approximately $50,000 to date by giving as little as $5 in some cases and significantly more in many other cases in order to fund a community grant to save this Ag teacher position. One family Ag business has even donated a tractor that was restored and used as a fundraiser by the Mason County FFA, in order for ABC to use as a unique fundraising mechanism and to promote Ag education/advocacy. Our giving to this cause doesnt mean we dont value other current or former educators or program areas, it does however mean that we found an area that our donors are collectively passionate about - Ag education. Not once have we spoke out against any current or former educators or program areas. In fact, we decided if we were going to invest our time, effort and money in starting a 501c3 non-profit, that we would share the love and allow money to be earmarked for ANY academic area (and we have thus far received over $500 for non Ag-related areas). If you dont have the same passion for Agriculture education that I and many others have, give to the area that your heart IS in. But keep in mind, this is not a tax, not a mandate, not a requirement - this is people voluntarily giving their hard-earned money to support something they believe in - for many of us, that happens to be Agriculture education. In short, we did the same thing that anyone could have done. We chose not to be in the do nothing group or the complainer/be negative group, we chose to be in the do something positive group. YOU can too. A Better Community and our cause doesnt have to be your way to do something positive, but please stop letting it be the target of your negative energy. Ive commented publicly many times about standing up for what you believe in, as well as realizing when you have to put your foot down and say enough is enough -- like now. But to address your repeated questions: Where was this organization when other teachers and school employees lost their jobs last August? -- ABC didnt exist till this summer. Unfortunately, like you, we must have been in categories 1 or 2 mentioned above. Maybe we as individuals hadnt been drawn in yet. Maybe, we hadnt said enough is enough yet. Maybe we thought someone else would stand up. Or maybe we were distracted by other facets of our lives -- for example, my wife and I had our first child last August around the time when some cuts were made (seemed pretty overwhelming at the time). Regardless, we all have one thing in common, we cant go back in time - only forward. Why should we give money to the school system if they cant manage their money any better than this? -- Great question, but it is two separate issues. Why do you continue to give to your kids when they squander what you give them or perhaps they dont appreciate it? - Because you love them and want to see them do well. This organization is currently primarily focused on saving the Ag education teacher slot and continuing to provide an exceptional experience to our youth in that area. We hope that many others, along with many of us, will all work on the causes/solutions of/for this other issue outside of the scope of ABC. I should note that I personally believe this is getting better. What happens if the KDE or the local school board wont accept our money? A. The local school board voted unanimously to accept our money (our proposed grant) earlier this month. B. The KDE has compromised and is presently making efforts to work with us on the middle school Ag teacher grant proposal. C. The money in our proposed grant to the school system can only legally be spent on a 4th Ag teacher position and we have a multitude of safeguards in place in the contract and a really, really good lawyer. D. We have vowed to return the money to our donors if we fail to achieve our goal. Do you worry about how speaking out publicly on this issue could hurt your business? -- Simple answer - no. I may lose sleep at night, but it wont ever be over how standing up for what I believe - be it my faith, my family, my friends or farm families - might negatively impact me or our business. If some other business better embodies your value system, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not shopping there and I would respect that. Regardless, I hope that they are local (see A Better Community Facebook post on Pastor Martin Niemoller sermon). Im blessed to have family, friends, customers and co-workers who understand why this issue is important. Heres one reason: No farmers - no food. So again, negative people - you may not know that you are negative, but we all realize it. If youre thinking, they might be talking about me - then we probably are. Its hard to live a positive life when you are around negative people. We are just regular, ordinary people - your friends and neighbors - trying to do something positive in our community. If you dont choose to support our organization or our cause, please at least give us the common courtesy of not being negative on our Facebook pages, at our places of work or elsewhere. And even better, please consider giving yourself and the causes and people you do love the common courtesy of instead focusing positive energy on them. Best of luck with all your positive endeavors. Sincerely, Adam Hinton CEO, A Better Community
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 14:20:01 +0000
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