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MOAA CFC Board President

President’s Message – March 2025

Presidents Message / By

President’s Message
With all the delightful warm weather we are having, the new green buds on our trees lets us know that Spring has Sprung! Luckily, we are turning our clocks forward on March 9th to give us an extra hour of sunshine for all the new growth that is occurring. I’m wishing you all the luck of the Irish on St. Patricks’ Day on March 17th, and don’t forget to “Welcome Home” our Vietnam Veterans on their special day on March 29th. Mark your calendar for March 11th as we are having our monthly luncheon with special guest speaker Brittany Parks, the Strategic Director for Concerned Veterans for America (CVA). CVA has been a supporter of our MOAA Florida Council of Chapter (FCoC) and our organizations have much to learn from each other. I went into their website www.cv4a.org and discovered both MOAA and CVA are supporting the ACCESS Act (Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers) to expand veterans’ community care options. Like MOAA, the CVA website makes it very easy for anyone to sign a prepared letter that is sent to our federal legislators in support of veteran legislation. If it’s been a while since you’ve attended one of our Chapter luncheons, please reserve April 12nd (our only Saturday luncheon) to come out and celebrate our JROTC Scholarship recipients, their family and cadre. This is my favorite luncheon event as it’s an opportunity to showcase our future military leaders and recognize them with the generous financial donations from our chapter members for their achievements. Lastly, I know there are chapter members who don’t always come to our luncheons and thus may not get a reminder that the $20 dues we each pay to support our chapter are now overdue. We rely on the dues to help pay for items such as meals for our guest speakers, and medals for our JROTC/ROTC cadets. Please note that we have changed our mailing address for our Chapter: MOAA CFC, 10151 University Blvd, PMB 145, Orlando, Fl. 32817-1904. You will see the form at the end of Our Newsletter or go to this website to pay your dues online using the donation button at the top of every page and put dues in the description. We need your support, and while you are at it, please update your information (especially your spouse) so we can keep in touch! For those celebrating Easter, I wish each of you a joyous Easter celebration in April!
Cheers, Lorraine

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Chaplain's Corner

Chaplain’s Corner

Chaplain's Corner / By

By Tom Love

Thanksgiving

The times are tough for many people. Unrest seems to be rocking the world. Families are
Fanning Island during one of Randy’s “cruises” separated by miles and around the Thanksgiving table and there may be a vacant seat. This is certainly true of our men and women deployed around the globe. Can we still offer thanks to God even though we are so far apart? I believe we most certainly can. In fact, as children of God, we must do so no matter what.

“Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever!”

Just consider how people of God responded with thanksgiving in the past. The first American Thanksgiving Day was celebrated within sight of the forty graves in the Plymouth cemetery, while fifty-five survivors of the original band of Pilgrim exiles gathered to praise God even after the epidemic and deaths of the first crushing twelve month period.

Despite the separation from loved ones, despite the setbacks, despite the hardships we face, each and every one of us still has plenty in life for which to thank God. We can have a blessed Thanksgiving as we take the time to give thanks and as we take time to remember our loved ones in prayer. We have so much to be thankful for.

“Now thanks we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, who wondrous things has done, in whom the world rejoices.

Who, from our mother’s arms, has blessed us on our way, with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”

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Lorraine Holland

Veterans Day Matters

Presidents Message / By

Veterans Day Matters to Central Florida, and you will find plenty of dates below to attend an event to honor our Veterans. It’s a busy time of year as we gear up for the November month of activities surrounding this annual day of honoring our Nation’s Veterans. I will be proudly representing our MOAA Chapter at several functions, and I encourage you to participate in Veterans Day activities in your respective areas to honor those who have honorably and selflessly served. I know many of our members are very active in their veteran community and we would like to hear your stories at our November 12th luncheon!
This Focus newsletter covers both November and December, and I would be remiss if I didn’t wish all of you a wonderful day with family and friends on Thanksgiving, and a Merry Christmas full of magical festivities with your loved ones! Let’s not forget that as our world is swirling in unrest overseas, we have deployed military personnel stationed in harm’s way. Please keep our brave men and women in your thoughts and prayers, as they are the reason we have a peaceful and safe home in America. For our November 12th Luncheon, we are very fortunate to have our own CDR (ret) US Coast Guard Randy Fiebrandt as our guest speaker. After retirement, he worked in the cruise industry for 13 years. Randy will briefly discuss the cruise industry, note how cruise ships operate and many of the environmental issues they face, and for all you cruisers out there, he can answer all your “behind the scenes” questions.
It’s that time of year again when we need to review our Board of Directors and Chapter Leadership. Like any successful organization, we need new eyes and ears to help steer us into the future to keep our Chapter alive and vibrant. Please make yourself known at the November and December Chapter events so we can put your name forward to fill Chapter positions of leadership. I’m looking forward to seeing you at our luncheon on November 12th!

Cheers …. Lorraine

Next MOAA CFC Event November 12th @ 11:30 am $24 per person Our next Chapter meeting is a luncheon on November 14 at 11:30 am and will be held at the DoubleTree Orlando East – UCF Area. The DoubleTree is located at 12125 High Tech Ave, Orlando. Please note the hotel sits back off the road and may not be immediately visible. The price is $24 per person, and we accept cash, checks, credit/debit cards. Are you curious about taking a cruise or wonder what goes on behind the scenes to keep the cruise lines running smoothly? We are very fortunate to have our own CDR (ret) USCG Randy Fiebrandt as our guest speaker. Randy’s topics include his unique experiences serving 22 years in the Coast Guard, and his 13+ years employment with 2 different Cruise Lines. Please see a short bio below. The DoubleTree is serving Chicken Franchise, Parmesan Orzo, and Flavorful Broccoli. Dessert will be the Chef’s Choice and a warm Doubletree Cookie. RSVP NLT November 8th to this email, or email lorraineholland@hotmail.com or call 407-221-1388. Please come out to enjoy a wonderful event with your fellow chapter members!
Save the Date – Next month’s luncheon will be held on December 10th at 11:30am. Our Christmas luncheon will include a special briefing by recently “retired retired” from both active duty and as the Senior Air Force JROTC Instructor at West Orange High School (Winter Garden) COL US Air Force Sandy Rhoades. Learn the ins & outs on what it takes to mold our high school students to prepare them for active service or become better citizens if they choose to go that route.

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Women Veterans Image

Women Veterans’ Whole Health Summit

Mail / By

This year’s Conference will be “Women Veterans Whole Health Summit”, on November 2, 2024, the event will focus on promoting the overall health and well-being of women veterans. The summits will feature workshops, panel discussions, and resources aimed at addressing unique health issues faced by women in the military and veteran communities.

Topics may include mental health, physical wellness, reproductive health, and access to healthcare services.

Please join us for some engaging and encouraging topics and  activity.

Event Date: November 2, 2024

Location:
Marriott Hutchinson Island Beach Resort
555 NE Ocean Blvd
Stuart, Florida 34996
Resort Website:
For Tickets to the Summit

Vanessa Thomas
Florida Department of Veterans Affairs
State Women Veterans Coordinator
9500 Bay Pines Blvd
Bay Pines, Fl 33778
Email: Vanessa.Thomas@fdva.fl.gov

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Lorraine Holland 206x320 1

Presidents Remarks

Presidents Message / By

Living in the greater Orlando community we don’t often get the opportunity during a Category 4 hurricane to say, “what hurricane?’ This last week we were reminded that living inland provides a barrier from surging waters that many others in Florida do not share.  Along with our First Responders, I am especially proud of our FL National Guard who put themselves in harm’s way during storm surges on Florida’s West Coast and northern parts of our state. In addition, Gov DeSantis just authorized the FL National Guard to send air assets to North Carolina in support of Hurricane Helene response. Please keep in mind that we are still in hurricane season; keep your supplies topped-off!  

As a reminder, our Chapter members are asked to support MOAA’s key 2024-2025 federal legislative priorities.  You will find prepared messages waiting for you to email our Florida Congressmen and Senators at https://moaa.quorum.us

  1. Restoring BAH to 100% 
  2. Pay raise for junior enlisted personnel 
  3. Supporting combat injured veterans 

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you on October 8th at our next MOAA Central Florida Chapter luncheon.  We have a wonderful guest speaker on October 8th (see below). Sharing and exchanging ideas with each other on what we accomplish in our communities to help our military, veterans, and family members is what our MOAA Family is all about!

Cheers, Lorraine 

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Lorraine Holland

Orlando Creative Arts Competition at Lake Nona VA

Special Events / By

Lake Nona VA is hosting the annual Orlando Creative Arts Competition on Sept 5th and 6th, and please refer to the flyer on dates, time and locations that your artwork needs to be submitted.  I encourage you all to come out and admire the artwork that our veterans produce and vote for your favorite entries.  We will have our MOAA Healing Through Expression table and several of our Chapter members will be helping to support this event. Our “Healing thru Expression” philanthropy 501c(3) continues to be  very active with Lake Nona to provide art supplies (thanks to a MOAA and an American Legion Auxiliary grant) in support of the VA Recreational Therapy Department.  I continue to attend monthly art classes with veterans who seek relief from stress by expressing themselves through their art.  We’ve had two events to showcase veteran’s artwork to the public. 

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