Jeep Beach: Brought to you by the Mid Florida Jeep Club

Interview with Jason Martin
President of the Mid Florida Jeep Club

It wasn’t easy reaching Jason Martin the week prior to Jeep Beach 2014; this is the club’s main event.

“It’s amazing, when you think it’s so far from where it needs to be. We have a great club that really bonds together during this time of the year.”

Who joins the club?

“We have everybody from families of 5 or 6 all the way to single adults. We do monthly events – trail rides, dine outs, putt-putt golf, or beach days.

We ride out near Ocala national forest. It’s mostly sand, mud and hard-packed dirt.

We also do some out of town trips and support a lot of other nonprofit events for other Jeep clubs.”

How did the club first get involved?

“When Jeep Beach first started out it was run by the city on a piece of property they had called ‘City Island.’ The city asked the club to take it over and we’ve been running it since about 2006.”

What’s the most difficult part of organizing Jeep Beach?

“The biggest challenge is pulling it together. We have about 100 members and – as big as the event has gotten – it takes more and more manpower every year. Fortunately, we have a committee of about 15 people that make most of our important decisions for Jeep Beach. It’s a great committee that’s dedicated to the success of Jeep Beach.”

What do people not know about the group?

“This is a total nonprofit; we don’t make any money off of it. The club has always been a nonprofit. 100% of what we bring in goes back out to local charity.”

The Jeep Beach event grows every year – as do the proceeds. Last year the club donated over $85,000.

Accepting the 2014 Volunteer Group of the Year Award from the Boys & Girls Clubs; Milli Rice, Director of Jeep Beach (center) Jason Martin, club president on Milli’s left and Wayne Mintel, club VP on her right.

“Our two main charities are the Volusia/Flagler Boys and Girls Clubs and the BlueRibbon Coalition.”

The mission of the Volusia/Flagler Boys and Girls Club – as expressed on their website – is “To inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances… The idea is to engage young people in activities with adults, peers, and family members to develop the confidence and self-esteem that will enable them to reach their full potential.” Learn more at http://www.bgcvfc.org/

The BlueRibbon Coalition champions responsible use of public lands for the benefit of all recreationists. Per their site, “The BlueRibbon Coalition was born in 1987 shortly after Clark Collins, Founder and first Executive Director, was told by then Idaho Governor John Evans that recreationists were not politically significant and implied that Wilderness was more important than motorized access to public lands. Clark gathered and worked with other recreationists in a huge undertaking to educate all users of public lands in Idaho just how our resources were not being preserved FOR the public, but rather FROM the public. Thus, we have the seeds of what would ultimately become the BlueRibbon Coalition.” https://www.sharetrails.org/

One more thing people don’t know

“I would say 95% of the people that help put this on work a regular 40 hour week job. We have everyone from mechanics to machine operators and salesmen. People don’t get the concept of we’re not emailing back in 5 minutes.”

Don’t I know it; he was only available to talk while driving home from his full-time sales job. Days later, last minute edits were communicated via text.

What are you most proud of?

“How the club can come together and become one at that time of year, no matter what struggles are out there. And be able to pull off this big of an event without a lot of falls or hiccups.

It’s like ‘this was easier than I thought it would be.’ You’re very proud of yourself when it’s all done.”

Who do you want to thank this year?

“None of this would be possible without a great leader like Milli Rice. She’s in her fifth year as director of the event.

She’s just giving countless hours to make sure this is possible.

And I want to thank everybody that helps us as far as our volunteers and a HUGE thanks to the committee members. We do a summer picnic/Jeep Beach party afterwards to thank the volunteers. So the committee can really get out the appreciation to the club members that helped us.”
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Amanda Products applauds the Mid Florida Jeep Club for their commitment to Jeep Beach.

Like Jeep Beach at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeep-Beach/199715702396?fref=photo

Learn more about the Mid Florida Jeep Club at http://www.midfloridajeepclub.com

Like Mid Florida Jeep Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mid-Florida-Jeep-Club/137051086322689