Mike Johnson
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Being the sheriff of a county doesn't mean your job stops at police work. Most join organizations and programs to help with the community. Sheriff Mac McNeill is no different in this case, becoming the new board director for two different programs.
McNeill joined Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch Board of Directors back in May of this year. He aims to stay just as involved in the youth program as his predecessor, the late Sheriff Hobbs. After taking one tour of the Youth Ranch, McNeill was amazed to see what the program was doing for the youth and wanted to do everything in his power to help them. After the tour, McNeill thought of many ways to help the Youth Ranch, from donating money and goods, to donating an old car the Sheriff's Office had for the Youth Ranch to auction off. All the proceeds from the auction were kept by the Youth Ranch in hopes of helping their program. This year was the first year that Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch here in Jefferson County had a high school senior complete the program, graduate and go to West Point. Many of these kids could not accomplish incredible feats like that without having a team stand behind them and help guide them to success.
On July 27, while at a conference, McNeill received a nomination to be on the board of directors for the Florida Sheriff’s Association (FSA) and was voted in by fellow members and current sheriffs.
The FSA has been in existence since 1893, and is one of the oldest professional law enforcement associations in the nation. Their mission as an association is to foster the effectiveness of the sheriffs through leadership, innovation, legislative initiatives, education and training while providing a unified voice for the protection of Florida’s citizens and visitors. The state is divided up into districts where only three sheriffs are elected to serve on the board. McNeill was shocked to be nominated and voted onto this board since he has not been an active sheriff for long. With being elected to be on this board, McNeill's goal is to help the small areas. He plans on helping to give the rural areas a voice so many can hear their problems and bring them to the light. Once these problems are out in the open, he hopes they can be solved and receive the proper attention and solutions needed.
Sheriff McNeill wants everyone to know that he is very thankful for being given a chance to serve on both boards and will spend his time on them wisely, helping Jefferson County. For any information on these associations or ways to donate and help, you can visit www.flsheriffs.org and www.youthranches.org.
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