Florida Banking April 2022

STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

TIME FOR AN ATTITUDE OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE

BY ALEJANDRO “ALEX” SANCHEZ, FBA PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

“ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU – ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.” - JOHN F. KENNEDY

country. They are only asking we take care of them so they can provide for their families. Most of us do not have the kind of job that when we leave our homes in the morning, we don’t know whether we will return that evening. While there are many critics out there, and it is easy to be one, I don’t see these same critics serving others in need like our first responders, police officers and our military. Our country faces challenges ahead both internally and externally. While many of us hoped for a more peaceful and civil world after the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989, events like 9/11, Covid, the issue of Ukraine, the growing menace of China as a world superpower, and a $30 trillion national debt that continues to be out of control causes us to keep President Kennedy’s moving and inspiring words of service and sacrifice in mind.

P resident John Kennedy challenged our nation with those famous words, and I think the time has come for us to heed them again as a nation. What a difference a few decades make since President Kennedy uttered those words, asking Americans to do more in the name of our country. He obviously was not suggesting that we seek some tangible reward or other compensation from our country, but that we give back. I wonder sometimes, if President Kennedy were President today and he spoke his famous quote again, what would people say? How would they take his words today in 2022? His words are as noble and uplifting today as they were back then. President Kennedy’s words are still being fulfilled by many Americans who serve us each and every day… The many first responders, nurses and medical staff who risked it all at the height of Covid to serve and care for us, the police officers and firefighters who lay it on the line each day, and especially the men and women in our military. The courageous and noble men and women in many professions who serve us could be doing something safer, with better work hours for more pay. Yet they have chosen to give to our society, to fulfill the needs of our country, to sacrifice their time by working weekends and midnight shifts, to do what their passions and hearts call for in service to others and

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