An Act of Kindness that Went All the Way - Thanks Tim Rose!
The people in this industry are remarkable. Truly. Those of us that have been around awhile know that “something special” I’m talking about that keeps us hooked.
Last month the Greater California Livery Association hosted a live conference in the most Covid impacted state in the country. We did it to raise the morale of our members. We also needed the money as we operate on a razor-thin budget while keeping membership dues at $75 per year for operators and $300 per year for vendors.
Pulling this event off was not easy. The association had many goals to achieve. We aimed for 200 total attendees, which was the absolute most the facility would allow. On the financial side, our goal was to raise $12,500 to put towards our annual budget. With just a week to go, I posted on my personal Facebook page a plea for help. Our registration was at 168 and we needed 30 more people to come or we’d have a short fall of several thousand dollars.
Within a few minutes, I received a response to my post from Tim Rose, the owner of Dolphin Transportation, headquartered in Naples, Florida. He paid for nearly all the remaining event seats with a pledge of $2,500!
Okay, so let this sink in. Tim operates a transportation company which is over 2,200 miles away and a 39.45-hour car ride from our event location. Check out the map for a better perspective.
So WHY is a Florida-based company owner helping the California transportation association? Just because. This is what you call a random-act-of-kindness and this is the stuff you don’t find in most industries.
Upon hearing from Tim, he simply stated that he has many friends in California and felt the need to help them. Having spent a decade or more as the president of the LANJ – Limousine Association of New Jersey, Tim also knows how critical fundraising is to the survival of state associations.
Tim is also feeling really good these days! His company, Dolphin Transportation recently announced a merger with Key Transportation. 175 vehicles strong, the Dolphin brand is now the largest owned fleet in Southwest Florida with locations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches, Boca Raton, Marco Island, Naples, Ft. Myers, Punta Gorda, Sarasota/Bradenton, and Tampa markets.
