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Auxiliarst Pica with Commandant Admiral Papp |
Vincent Pica, District1-SR’s Chief of Staff, had been writing a seamanship column for a local newspaper since 2006. He did as Flotilla 18-6 Commander for a dual purpose – first to raise seamanship knowledge along the south shore of Long Island, NY, and secondly as a part of a recruiting & retention strategy.
Using active-duty’s patrol theme of “see and be seen,” it was a natural strategy to extend that to traditional media. And it seemed to be working as membership grew and other traditional- and new-media (read: internet) outlets picked up the column.
This was all done without compensation, which Vincent didn’t feel comfortable accepting since it seemed like he was leveraging the US Coast Guard Auxiliary’s credibility for personal gain. This worked until June of 2010 when “Long Island Boating World,” one of the oldest and most recognized boating magazines on Long Island, agreed to pick up the column. They insisted on paying $50.00 for each article published – or $600/year.
Earlier, in February 2008, Vincent was faced with this dilemma. “The Independent,” another newspaper which also had an internet presence wanted to pay compensation for the stories. The publisher, Jim Mackin, also an Auxiliarist (now Vice Flotilla 18-2 Commander), understood the issue and agreed to donate any ad revenues from the column to Division 18. Problem solved.
But when Vincent, by then the District 1-SR Captain-South, proposed that “Long Island Boating World” pay the $50.00 to neighboring divisions on Long Island, the newspaper balked. Therefore Vincent decided to kill two birds with one stone – he’d take the $50.00 and donate it to one of the four divisions on Long Island. He rotated the donation around, only specifying that it be used for “Kids-Don’t-Float” programs.
Once Vincent was elected to District 1-SR Chief of Staff for the 2011-2012 term, he expanded the rotation to include all the divisions in D1-SR and all divisions have received at least one donation by now.
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Vincent on patrol |
Including ad monies from “The Independent,” this has amounted to almost $1,500.00 in “Kids-Don’t-Float” paying for nearly 50 life-jackets.
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Vincent and crew |
Having just sent off my last check to a division that hadn’t yet participated in some additional funding for “Kids-Don’t-Float,” I am sending this month’s check to the CG Auxiliary Association and will do so until I reach $1,000.00. Then, we’ll take stock and see if there is yet another pocket of worthy needs we can help fill…
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Auxiliarist Vincent Pica |
“My personal motto and watchwords are ‘Serve, Contribute, Grow’ and this program really allows me to do all three by making this donation”, said Vincent. “The growth is in both furthering recreational boating safety and in the knowledge that you’ve done something worthy. That’s a good feeling that you want to grow more of.”