The John Land Apopka Community Trust announced today that Richard Anderson resigned as its President on April 27, 2016.
John Ricketson, who has served as Vice President for the Trust, was named interim President.
Other Board Actions:
The Trust Board appointed three new Board members; Bill Arrowsmith, former Apopka Commissioner; Johnny Land, son of former Mayor John Land; and Robert Manley, former Apopka Chief of Police.
The Board also nominated Michelle Hinden. Hinden is an attorney in Apopka and is expected to join the Trust's Board at the next meeting.
The Board approved two $500 contributions. One to the Apopka High School Debate to help cover the cost of traveling to the 2016 National Speech & Debate Tournament in Utah. The other grant went to the Apopka Little league to help defray costs associated with hosting the Little League Regional Championships in July.
A committee was established by the Board and charged with drafting a policy with specific criteria to be used to evaluate future funding requests. The committee is expected to present its first draft at the next Board meeting which is scheduled for July 13, 2016.
It has been a tumultuous stretch of weeks for Anderson. On April 5th, Anderson was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run incident in Lake County. Later in April the victim of that incident named him in a lawsuit, and it was learned that the Florida Highway Patrol listed him as a person-of-interest in a criminal investigation regarding the same incident. Yesterday a warrant for his arrest was issued, and Anderson turned himself in to authorities. He is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving and tampering with evidence.
The Board was not aware of the April 5th incident or the resulting lawsuit until word surfaced in the media in May, according to David Rankin, Secretary for the Trust.
The John Land Apopka Community Trust Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded on February 8th, 2013 in honor of Mayor John Land to serve the greater Apopka community
According to its website, its mission is ‘to serve the greater Apopka community and its citizens through philanthropic funding and encouragement, scholastic achievement through scholarships and sponsorship, city and community betterment and development, and to help give support to worthwhile charitable needs.’
Anyone wanting to apply for funding can do so on the Trust’s website.
To date, the Trust’s primary fundraising has been on a project-by-project basis. Currently it is “selling” bricks to provide funding for the statues of Mayor Land. More on that project here.
The Trust is a Public Charity and is subject to Section 501(c)3 of the IRS code. While it works closely with The City of Apopka and other governmental entities, it operates independently of those entities, and is governed by a Board of Directors.
