Offshoreonly.com - The History of Ft. Myers Offshore, Inc.

I posted this in our section under Boat Clubs as well but wanted the larger offshore community to know a bit about FMO and what we are about. If your travels take you to Southwest Florida this winter please feel free to join us on one of our Fun Runs. Our season opener is on Sat. Oct. 10th. Please see our schedule in post #2 below. http://www.ftmyersoffshore.org
Hope to see you on the water.
Bob

The History of Ft. Myers Offshore, Inc. – 2005 to present

Ft. Myers Offshore (FMO) had its early beginnings in the spring of 2005. Back then, it consisted of a dozen friends with and without offshore boats from Marco Island to Cape Coral, FL. As the months went by, more and more offshore boaters would join in our little rendezvous’ for lunch at local area waterfront restaurants. We also found that internet forums OffshoreOnly.com and SeriousOffshore.com were effective ways to communicate with our offshore friends and organize our events. The club was on its way.

In early January 2007 there was an event that really pulled our group together. An offshore boat that was not part of our group was involved in a tragic accident in the Gulf of Mexico off Marco Island, FL and 4 of the 5 people aboard were killed. Sixteen- year old Jennifer Molter survived the accident. In the weeks following, our group became aware of Jennifer’s desire to one day go to college but financial circumstances seemed unlikely that she would be able to accomplish this goal. Ft. Myers Offshore set up a fund raiser to help Jennifer’s college ambitions. We organized a fun run to Naples, FL and thru event fees, donations and auctions, the club raised over $26,000.00 and added a further $8,000.00 to Jennifer’s Trust Fund when Bob made his record setting journey from Key West to Cancun and back. Today, with Ft. Myers Offshore’s help, Jennifer continues her education at a Naples, FL college, achieving excellent grades, and making all of us at Ft. Myers Offshore very proud.

Following the success of the fund raiser for Jennifer, Ft. Myers Offshore then raised over $5,500.00 in our annual Thanksgiving weekend fun run in November 2007, to help a Ft. Myers woman who works in the boating industry who had open heart surgery. It has now become a tradition that our Thanksgiving weekend fun runs are fund raising events to help with our designated charity.

In the summer of 2008, a decision was made to bring this loose knit group of offshore boating enthusiasts into a more formal club structure. Ft. Myers Offshore, Inc. was incorporated as a 501 (c) (3) charity under Florida State law with a board of 5 officers and directors. They are: Bob Barnhart, Chairman; Dan Davies, President; Hans Haedelt, Treasurer; Tom Cullen, Secretary; and John Wilkinson, scholarship committee chairman All positions are voluntary and without compensation. In addition club photographer Jay Nichols continues to make a valuable contribution to FMO.

Since the Club incorporation as a registered charity, we have raised an additional $5,000.00 and have awarded three, $1,500 scholarships to assist worthy Southwest Florida students enter college. The recipients of these initial scholarships are: Megan Hollihan, Morgan Papworth and Jose Luis Martinez. We are enthused as we look forward to the coming boating season and think about the possibilities of doing even more to assist young students in the local area achieve their dream.

Our mission statement is, " Ft. Myers Offshore, Inc. is a not-for profit corporation consisting of a group of offshore boating enthusiasts in Southwest Florida, dedicated to raising funds and awarding a number of academic scholarships each year to help worthy individuals graduating from high school, continue their education at institutions of higher learning including college and university as approved by the Board of Directors.”

Today, FMO has grown to over 60 members with offshore boating enthusiasts from across SW Florida, as well as the eastern United States and Canada. Having raised over $45,000.00 for charitable causes we continue with our goals of promoting safe and responsible offshore boating as well as meeting the objectives of our mission statement. Ft. Myers Offshore, Inc. has again planned at least 6 boating events for the 2009 -2010 season. Our fun runs have a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and all are welcome.

For more information about Ft. Myers Offshore events please visit the FMO club \website at: www.ftmyersoffshore.org
The club also has its own forum on OffshoreOnly.com: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-offshore-186/
or the club forum on SeriousOffshore.com : http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forum...splay.php?f=47

Contact: Bob Barnhart cell 239 776 0481 email [email protected]