Good News Florida

In an effort to bridge the community of faith, we continue our conversation with community and business leaders who are impacting South Florida in profound ways. We want you to get to know them on a more personal level. So here is the third question Good News Wants to Know. What was your first real paying job and what did you learn from it? Well, if summer jobs count, my first real paying job was working in a fruit pack- ing plant down in the Redlands. My dad owned fruit groves and his friend owned the fruit packing plant. That earned me a job packing various sized limes into boxes and loading them into trucks (and, occasionally, going out with the crews to pick them as well). What I learned was the value of a dol- lar. It was easy to spend my parents money. Much harder to spend money earned through much sweat! -Tom Hendrikse, Senior Pastor, Rio Vista Church My first real job was working in my next door neighbors car wash on Saturday mornings. I was in charge of driving the cars off the line and drying chrome with a towel. I learned how hard people work to make a living and was impressed by the positive attitudes the long term staff had toward their customers and the jobs that were fortunate to have. Think it's easy… Try it from 7:30 am - 4:30 pm with a half hour for lunch. I worked only on Saturdays. They worked six days a week. Impres- sive indeed! -Andy Mitchell, President/CEO, The Fairwinds Group My first paying job was in the Land of Southern style cooking. A Land flowing with Fried Chicken ,Collard greens and Pig feet aka trotters. However my first paying job did not come from a Southern style restaurant . I worked at a Chinese restau- rant in the Peach State as a busboy and dishwasher. The experience encouraged responsibility, work ethic , appreciation of a dollar earned and a affinity towards Chinese food which is still a favorite today. -Pastor Bernard King, Sr., Cornerstone Bible Fellowship I delivered papers and mowed lawns beginning in middle school. The winter morn- ings were cold in Ohio but people wanted their paper. I learned that people are ap- preciative of a job well done but that not everyone likes to pay their bill so keep a close eye on the A/R. -William C. Davell, Attorney, May, Meacham & Davell, P.A. My first paying job was pumping gas at a gas station through undergraduate and graduate school. God used that job to teach me to serve others. I obviously needed help in this area. He had me do that job for 6 years. -Dr. Bob Barnes , Chief Executive Officer, Sheridan House Family Ministries Bat boy for the Florida Marlins. I learned you couldn't trick girls into thinking you were a baseball player... even if you had the uniform and hat. -Bob Denison, President, Denison Yacht Sales My first job was as a busboy in a Chinese restaurant. -Charles L. Bender, III, Founding CEO, Place of Hope My first real “paying job” was working as a bagboy at the Publix store in the old Cypress Plaza in Pompano Beach. This was the only company that would hire a 14 year old boy and they started me out at teen cents more than minimum wage ($3.45!) Working for the Publix family taught me the value of showing up on time, working hard and dressing the part, as my mother insisted that I wear an neatly pressed shirt and a tie. I also learned to volunteer to do more than was required. I wonder where I would be had I stayed with the company. - Chip LaMarca, Broward County Commissioner, District 4 My first real paying job was when I was 15 years old and I was a dish washer for my uncle’s Italian restaurant in Pompano Beach. I learned that my job was im- portant and valuable, I had to work hard and fast because the entire business could suffer if the dishes were not clean and done quickly. -Chris Lane, Executive Director, First Priority of South Florida My first real job was at a hospital, and what I learned was that,life was only tem- porary for the young as well as the old. -Pastor Daryl Nelson , Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches My first real job was at 14, when I began teaching tennis lessons to women through the YWCA. I learned that I could make lots of money sharing with others/teaching them about something I love so they could enjoy it for a lifetime too. -Deborah Cusick, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship FAU Campus Volunteer I worked for two uncles over the summer of my junior year in high school. One was a roof contractor and the other installed fences in the equestrian areas of South Forida. Both jobs were hard, sun-drenched work that helped to inspire me to get my act together, finish school and start taking responsibility for “making something of myself.” -Dennis DeMarois , Director, The Gathering Palm Beach County My first job was driving a grape harvesting tractor for a large vineyard. The farm sold the grapes to a huge grape juice plant. I learned to think of others more than myself. If I put the care of the equipment, the wellbeing of my co-workers and a desire to help the vineyard flourish before my own desires and comfort, then I quickly was promoted to lead others. When people are company or mis- sion-directed, it manifests as humility and credit is pushed to others making for a much stronger productive team. -Don Campion, President, Banyan Air My first real pay was for acting and singing, where I learned how to handle re- jection. I first learned business working at a newspaper, at the same time I Andy Mitchell Pastor Bernard King, Sr. William C. Davell Dr. Bob Barnes Bob Denison Charles L. Bender Wants to Know… Pastor Tom Hendrikse