Dear fellow members,
With this Season’s Greeting, I would like to start by thanking every member of this Association as well as our Executive Director, Scott Merritt, and our Administrator, Jena Daly. This year has not at all been what we expected for 2020, but we still have much to be thankful for this year. And my thanks start and end with each of you.
Though we have been apart for the better part of a year, we still found ways to stay connected and advance the interests of our industry. Can you imagine what this year would be like if the FLTA had not already worked:
- To enact remote online notarization legislation that became effective on January 1st of this year and then created the necessary education course to make it a reality for Florida Notaries?
- With the Office of Insurance Regulation to streamline the data call?
- With the Department of Financial Services to clarify rules regarding third party charges and unlawful inducements?
- To educate so many on the dangers of cyber criminals and wire fraud?
Words cannot capture the immense pride and gratitude that I have for the leaders of this Association and professionals in our industry as so many have demonstrated incredible support for one another, our customers, our people in need, and the thousands of communities we serve. As an industry and as an Association, we have been dedicated, incredible, and Essential.
And I am so grateful that we were able to maintain a sense of family and community as we bonded together during our first-ever, Virtual Convention: The Roaring 20s – know the past, live in the present, and secure the future. Our Convention and your engagement exceeded my expectations.
Resilience is often thought about in terms of simply getting through challenges, but the key part of resilience isn’t about bouncing back, it’s about bouncing forward. It’s about using adversity as a catalyst to do something new, to get better, and become stronger. Our Association was built to handle moments like this and I ask all of you to continue your engagement and contribute to the FLTA mission, to help increase our adaptability, diversity, and inclusion, and to be resilient together.
Speaking of doing something new, I am incredibly proud that our Board of Directors authorized a $20,000 donation to be split between five Florida area food banks with a call to action for our members to join us in helping those in dire need as a growing number of our neighbors and friends are going hungry. Thank you, Lyndsay Hall Harrison, our Treasurer, for this terrific idea! Our members were so motivated by this call to action that we have already collectively donated more than $55,000 and this is just the beginning. We have added a specific line item for charitable giving into our 2021 Budget and will establish a Charitable Committee so that our Association can continue to make the biggest impact for members of our communities in need.
I am very grateful for your continued involvement during these challenging times. We are truly stronger together and my wish for you remains the same: Have a healthy, safe, and joyous Holiday Season and may the Holiday Cheer get us all to next year with a renewed sense of peace and faith in the future!
Len Prescott
2020-2021 FLTA President
