By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   On Saturday, October 27, Lee City Hall softball field is host to the Catlin Mixson SLOW PITCH Softball Fundraiser.  Games will be held between 11:00 a.m and 5:00 p.m.  The player fee is only $10.00 and concessions are available.
   There will be prize drawings exclusively for registered players, including $50.00 cash, MCHS Cowboy T-shirts and caps, food certificates and more.  Volunteers, especially umpires, are welcome and needed.
   Catlin Mixson, the nephew of Treavor and Connie Hicks, was seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq.  At this time, he’s lost both legs and an arm is in jeopardy.  He’s been transferred to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.  Mixson just turned 21 years old.
   Please contact Asa Putnal at 973-2961 or 567-3008 to “step up by signing up” to help an American Soldier.

   The unemployment rate for Madison County dropped from 7.1 percent in July to 5.5 percent in September.
   Madison County has a labor force of 7,136 people with 6,740 of them employed. A total of 396 of those in the labor force did not have jobs in September.
   Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) Director Monesia T. Brown announced Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.0 percent in September 2007, unchanged from the month-ago rate. The 4.0 percent unemployment rate represented 373,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,270,000. Florida's August and September 2007 unemployment rates of 4.0 percent were the highest since April 2005 when the rate was also 4.0 percent.
   The national unemployment rate for September 2007 was 4.7, which was 0.7 percentage point higher than Florida's current rate. Since mid-2002, Florida's rate has been below the national average and Florida had the lowest unemployment rate of the ten most populous states, based on the latest nationwide data.
   Florida's nonagricultural employment growth rate was 1.3 percent in September, representing 105,700 new jobs over the year. The statewide job growth rate was just slightly higher than the national job growth rate of 1.2 percent for September. Nonagricultural employment in September increased to a total of 8,145,200 jobs. Based on the latest nationwide data, Florida ranked third in job growth among the ten most populous states, behind only Texas and California.
   In partnership with the education and business communities, the Agency for Workforce Innovation is working diligently to meet Florida's workforce needs by implementing innovative programs. One such program creates career and professional education academies that link the resources of public education to the workforce needs of businesses to promote a vibrant state economy. The effort to create these academies is led by Senator Don Gaetz who successfully championed the Florida Career and Professional Education Act in the 2007 legislative session. Earlier this week, Governor Crist presented the prestigious national William L. Heartwell, Jr. Award to Senator Gaetz for his significant and substantial contributions to the state's workforce system.
   "Senator Gaetz is a valuable asset to the workforce system," said Director Brown. "His incredible vision, diligence and drive have transformed Florida's workforce services and paved the way for the next generation of skilled workers by recognizing the significant connection between education and a successful workforce."

By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   The obvious and natural place for any journey, or story, to start is at the beginning.  And every journey, and story, no matter the length or difficulty, begins with the first step.  So here is Part 1, “Hungry For A Solution,” The Status of Madison Families.
   Planning a journey from Madison to Jacksonville, or from Cape Canaveral to the Moon for that matter, can be mapped out exactly.  Reporting on the status of people however, especially on issues like “quality of life,” is not exact, so determining the best route to improvement isn’t either.  Furthermore, this inability to be exact and objective gives room for opinion, and once that starts, getting people united for change is much harder, especially if apathy or bad history already exists.  A challenge to this report is therefore simply determining its starting point and route.
   Historically, the solution to this dilemma has been expert testimony. Assuming there’s no significant political or money bias behind them, receiving information from specialists is both sensible and useful.  These experts often devote their lives to their respective causes, typically making them uniquely qualified to provide in-depth, accurate, and inside information otherwise unavailable. 
   Relevant to this series, some very revealing, even alarming, vital county demographics have been provided by the Healthy Start Coalition of Jefferson, Madison and Taylor Counties, Inc.  Executive Director, George Hinchliffe, during a recent presentation to the “55-Plus” club, literally brought the numbers and members to life in a whole new and moving way. 
   As noted, a clear starting point is essential and the Healthy Start presentation’s focal points served well for establishing a solid “base line” for this series.  These focal points fell broadly into two categories, basic needs and safety needs. Both categories are so obvious, and have been the topic of news for so long, that many may let the information roll away in boredom.  Frankly, it’s unimaginable that these issues could still exist, but exist they do, and in a big way.
---Basic needs will be considered first, with safety needs being covered in the next two parts of the series.  These basic needs include five elements that represent the very fabric of what our forefathers intended to address when they wrote, “promote the general welfare,” so eloquently in the Preamble of The Constitution.  “Freedom From Want,” one of the cornerstones of the Four Freedoms, on which Madison was built, is directly targeting these needs as well.
--These basic needs are food, water, clothing, shelter and health. 
   It’s a common belief that anyone willing to work a full day, and do their part to take care of their family, can provide the first four basic needs.  Regarding the fifth need, even health hazards are looked at as mostly avoidable, at least until late in life, if one can just exhibit self-control regarding eating, smoking, drinking, exercise, etc. 
   Consequently, personal feelings about these issues will profoundly affect the way one “hears” the report.  In order to minimize this effect, and start things on solid, middle ground, the basic needs topic today is hunger.  Compelling conditions and startling images have been documented on each basic need element, including top research from agencies, universities, charities, churches and professionals associated with this huge concern.  More details of these studies will be revisited as the series progresses  
   According to three of these surveys, Florida Impact, Florida School Food Service Foundation, and the USDA Economic Research Service: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations; Madison County is not only at or near the worst hunger conditions for the state, but also grades below countries around the world that are thought of as “third-world,” or at least highly underdeveloped.
   The terminology, “Regional Hunger, Food Insecurity,” is the title used to label the numbers created from questions like, “Do you ever go to bed hungry?” or “Do you ever worry about where your family’s next meal will come from?”  “World Hunger” comparisons are done much the same way.  In addition, both regional and world surveys also acknowledge that meals are missed.  In Madison for instance, more than a few students report that the meals provided by the school system are their primary source of nutrition, and that sadly on weekends meals are skipped.
   The website located at flimpact.org states, “Florida Impact is dedicated to reducing hunger and poverty in Florida. We achieve this by mobilizing communities to secure justice for, and with, those whose economic rights have not been realized, and by increasing access to federal food, nutrition, and other economic-support programs through aggressive outreach and public policy advocacy.”
   In simple terms, Florida Impact joins and empowers community officials, charities, churches and volunteers to deliver solutions, if necessary one hungry child at a time.  So when asking oneself, “What can I do?” and “Where should I start?”  Again, it’s simple really; start where you are and do what you can.
   So by the numbers; on a regional basis, “hunger” in Madison comes in at over 22%, compared to a Florida state average of 12%.  And if this statistic by itself doesn’t impact one sufficiently to ask “Why, and what, can be done?” consider the following world hunger comparison. 
   Madison County has hunger conditions worse than Uganda, Laos and numerous other countries seen as possessing ghastly economic conditions.  Uganda is a landlocked country in eastern Africa, and Laos is a landlocked, communist country is southeast Asia once made famous by its presence in the Vietnam War.
   Just as the Florida Impact mission implies, hunger is directly related to poverty and poverty is the outcome of two core “safety/security” needs not being met.  These core safety needs are “security of employment” and “security of education,” and again, both will be addressed in parts 2 and 3 or this series where the “why” will be detailed more fully.  Safety of person and property will also be reviewed.  
   To briefly recap, part 1,2 and 3 are intended to outline and organize the issues.  Part 4 will then provide a summary that includes a directory of local resources available to those in need and the process to obtain it.  Those looking to assist in delivering these solutions will be introduced to a “priority planning outreach.”  For instance, food pantries, Food Stamps and church support work locally to combat hunger, but obviously the numbers strongly assert more help is needed. 
   Is this help as simple as introducing those in need to available resources, or perhaps just addressing reasons those in need won’t reach out for help?  Or are local resources just too limited to meet today’s demand?  Are new resources coming?  These questions too will be asked, but more importantly, an actual recipe consisting of step-by-step marching orders, will be presented.  At that time, and in the interim, all readers are strongly urged to reach out to anyone they know in need and introduce the idea that new help is coming, while assuring everything currently available is being utilized to its fullest.
   Among this new help, Madison County is now forming a Whole Child Steering and Planning Committee with the help of the Lawton Chiles Foundation.  Madison County was one of 14 rural high-risk counties, mostly in north Florida and the panhandle, that did not have a Healthy Families program.  The 2007 legislature has now provided funding.
   Healthy Families and Whole Child of Madison are expansions to existing programs administered by Kim Barnhill, Administrator, Jefferson/Madison County Health Department and Hinchliffe.  “The Executive Board is currently being educated regarding the goals and range of the programs,” Barnhill stated.  “We are conducting “Listening Projects,” where our representatives meet with agency, civic and church officials to ensure assistance gets to the root causes where the money can make a lasting difference,” she added.
   Many may still be thinking, “Well, I already knew there was a problem.”  This naturally begs the question, “How many people does it take to know about an issue to do something about it?”  Of course for those of you giving so much already, please don’t be put off by this challenge…instead please know help is on the way!

Look for these companion pieces in upcoming issues:
Part 2 – Safety and Security
Part 3 – Jobs and Education
Part 4 – The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Addendum - The Press: Stewards or Sewers of Vital Information