Did you miss the Dec. Holiday Toy Drive Luncheon?

There was so much fun, laughs, and giving at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant for the MDCREA Holiday Toy Drive Luncheon. Thank you members for supporting the Foundation for New Education Initiatives Project Upstart for homeless students in MDCPS with so many toys, cash, checks, and gift cards. Special thank you to the very talented Performing Arts students from Dr. Micheal Krop Senior High School. They were spectacular!!

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE by Dr. George Ellis

The MDCREA legislative team representing all FREA units will travel to the Capitol in Tallahassee to meet with legislators in January - 2024. Roger Cuevas, Joe Mathos, and George Ellis have targeted our Miami-Dade Senators to gain their support for our legislative priorities. All team members from other units have also reached out to their legislators to meet with them at the Capitol. The full group of nearly 20 will meet with Lamar Taylor, Executive Director of the State Business Administration regarding FRS and the pending bills that are in process to reinstate the COLA for those who did not receive any COLA after 2011. Other bills to discuss are those bills seeking to provide greater flexibility for members in the 401K type, Investment Plan who want to switch back to the Defined Benefits, Pension Plan. SBA manages and invests our FRS trust funds and other state trust funds that Florida residents count on. Lastly, the team will meet with AARP Florida leadership to discuss common objectives, as well as national issues with Social Security and Medicare. All of our FREA members are encouraged to continue to reach out to our legislators in the Districts we live in and let them know our priorities are important. They do listen to us because we have the numbers and we vote.

Question: Do you know your State Senator and State Representative and how to contact them? Just log on to the Legislative Advocacy tab at FREA.org to find all the information you need, including our legislative priorities.

SAVE THESE DATES

Wednesday, April 3, 2024: MDCREA will have its first meeting in Broward County at The Palace at Weston at 16025 Emerald Estates Dr. Weston, FL 33331 at 11:00 am. We hope that all of our Broward County and North Dade County members join us in full force. We will have a special presentation on Managing Anxiety and Stress in Retirement and other special guests. RSVP in the April Newsletter.

May 14 – 15, 2024: FREA will be celebrating its 70th Anniversary at the Tropical Southern Day FREA Convention at the Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa Florida. More information is forthcoming.

MEMBERSHIP

Unfortunately, we did not meet our membership goal this year. We are thankful for the members who renewed and for those who joined us for the first time. Our membership fiscal year runs from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. We collected dues from May to December. Higher membership numbers help us to fight to protect our pension, and to support future, current and retired educators.

FREE VIRTUAL MOVIE SCREENING

Enjoy the AARP Movies for Grownups Screening of Leap Year (a romantic comedy) on February 29, 2024 at 8:00 pm. Register here: https://local.aarp.org/vcc-event/movies-for-grownups-leap-year-hgnxrlsddlh.html

February is Black History Month

The Story Behind Black History Month

Historian Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week in February of 1926 as a coordinated effort to develop lessons and encourage the teaching of Black history across the nation's communities and public schools. Woodson, the son of former slaves who became the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University, recognized the importance of establishing an initiative that could be celebrated annually and on a national scale. The first Black History Month was celebrated at Kent State Univ. in 1970. In 1976 it was recognized by President Gerald Ford, to be a time to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history".

Get more on the story of Black History Month here: