Jim Nathan’s Speech at the
Junior Achievement Recognition Ceremony,
He was inducted in Lee County Business Hall of Fame
We are here tonight to support the goals of Junior
Achievement — a worldwide partnership between the business community, educators
and volunteers — all working together
to inspire young people to dream big
and reach their potential.
In our midst are JA students from elementary through high
school who have stepped forward to learn and grow through the JA
curriculum. They have been aided by
teachers and volunteers who have made a difference in their lives. These volunteers are providing gifts to the
students through their time and efforts; so too the students are providing
gifts to the volunteers and teachers.
My comments tonight focus on gifts that surround us … some
gifts we fully recognize and acknowledge while others are gifts that we may
never fully unwrap or ever open.
In early 2006, I was asked by Joyce Ramay, who is with us
this evening, to share a few words at the memorial service for her husband Haneef Ramay. I was
clearly honored but had no idea how much that experience would impact my
life. You see, Haneef
was the closest I had ever come to a modern day Gandhi. Unfortunately, it was only after his passing
that I began to fully embrace what knowing him truly meant. I had been with Haneef
a number of times prior to his death. I
was aware that he had been a leader in the Pakistani Parliament. I knew he was a voice of peace. I knew I was in the presence of someone
special.
But it was only after Haneef’s death that I had a chance to more fully understand. Through the power of the Internet I did a web search which showed that … like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi … Haneef Ramay had been imprisoned for speaking out as a voice of peace, as a voice of reason.
People in power were fearful of such voices. I saw the depth of love that many Pakistanis
had for Haneef and began to grasp the courage it took
for him to return to
Two other speakers at Haneef’s
service, Reverend Wayne Robinson of All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, and Abdul'Haq Muhammed, executive director of
the Quality of Life Center, are here tonight.
Following my memorial comments, Mr. Muhammed shared what has become for
me a life altering observation. He said,
“Jim told us about a special gift we had in our community. That gift was Haneef Ramay.
Jim’s comments make me realize how little I knew about Haneef. Haneef was a well wrapped gift that I never
fully opened.”
Gifts come wrapped in infinite styles, shapes,
bows and colors. Gifts are all around
us.
Each of us might
be surprised at the extent of the gifts we have been exposed to but have only
partially or never fully opened. This
room is filled with gift givers including many who have given “gifts” to me
along my journey. My dad spent fifty
years fighting serious illnesses but he always had time for others. He did so with humor while never complaining
about his daunting health challenges. He
could not walk from here to the door without being winded; he spent years in
and out of hospitals. Nevertheless,
along his life’s path he mentored me and many young people in business offering
life long lessons … gifts … that helped immeasurably.
In this room
tonight are others who fit that description … faced with serious, complex
long-term illnesses and yet who find time to help others. Our special honoree, Tom Uhler, has battled
devastating cancer while always exhibiting humor and bright cheer. His strong willingness to live and his desire
to do good things for others far overshadow his health challenges.
Also here tonight
is Sharon Akin, who has devoted years of her life counseling individuals and
families dealing with life threatening illnesses.
With us tonight
are business mentors who, like the JA volunteers and like my dad, carved out
time to help nurture and grow others.
John Gadd, President of Lee Memorial for 26 years, devoted much of his
career providing mentorship for many including Jon Cecil and me. Jon Cecil started as a food service trainee
and is today considered one of our nation’s top human resource officers. John Gadd and Jon Cecil are gift givers who
help others identify, grow and pursue career passions.
Junior
Achievement assists young people by providing basic business skills. This room is filled with entrepreneurs with
strong business skills; some in non-traditional business roles. Rev. Israel Suarez and his wife, Ruthie, took
a religious ministry and turned it into the Nations Association, an
organization helping people of all ages learn to help themselves not only with
food and clothing but more importantly by fostering self dignity and assistance
in seeking employment. Abdul'Haq
Muhammed of Quality of Life Center uses his entrepreneurial skills to help
children through tutorial and developmental assistance while also offering
parenting skills. Cliff Smith, President
of United Way, shares his passion of helping others by leading one of the most
highly respected
The economic
challenges of our community require that they each use the basic concepts of
Junior Achievement by applying highly creative entrepreneurial skills in order
to survive, thrive and succeed. They
always find time to serve others; they are true gifts to our community.
Also here this
evening, are individuals who converted challenging, devastating, tragic events
in their lives into gifts of service to others.
This is true for each of the three individuals who participated in the
video we just saw. Donna Giannuzzi’s
family was unable to help finance her education. She received a scholarship … a gift … to go
to nursing school. Today Donna is the
chief nursing officer for Lee Memorial Health System. She never forgot her roots. Donna opened her gift fully and has used it
repeatedly to help others.
Joe Catti,
President of FineMark Bank, and his wife Jo Ann, have devoted their adult lives
to volunteering and helping others after receiving the gift of life when their
daughter had complications at birth and was saved in a neonatal intensive care
unit. John and Ellen Sheppard dealt with
one of the most devastating losses anyone could ever imagine with the death of
a son many years ago. They have become
visible faces of volunteerism and philanthropy in our community. Donna, Jo Ann, Joe, Ellen and Johnny could
not have known they were being given gifts at the darkest moments of their
challenges; however, they ultimately chose to look deep inside their oddly
wrapped packages. They opened them fully
and have each become special gifts that keep on giving.
This November,
Karen and I will have been married forty years.
In our early dating years, Karen would often say I seemed to have dark
clouds hanging over me. Karen, a special
gift, helped blow away those dark clouds by believing in me, supporting me and
at times mentoring me by holding mirrors in front of me. In tough times, she has propped me up and
pushed me out of the house encouraging me to stay focused on doing what was
right for our community.
This room, this
community, this world are full of gifts.
Sometimes we see them and choose to open them fully. Quite frequently, we are blind to the gifts
nearby or we only partially open them.
Through our life journey we have an opportunity to learn and grow
from these gifts including opportunities to mentor and help others. Junior Achievement volunteers do just that by
providing guidance, support and gifts with no strings attached. For you Junior Achievement students, this is
a special night. Each of you has a
chance to realize that as hard as you have worked to achieve your JA goals, you
too have received some special gifts and an opportunity to grow from and to
share those gifts.
For each of us this evening, I hope we won’t have to wait for a memorial service and an Internet search to learn just how little we may have unwrapped a very special gift. I thank the JA selection committee for helping me unwrap a few more gifts. Thank you for a fabulous evening of gift giving.
Peace be with each of you.