Florida Blue CEO, Pat Geraghty, has been a long time supporter of the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation and advocate for our students and families. He has served as a member of the MWYF Board of Directors for many years and, with Florida Blue, donated the first $1 million to make our Club 904 Teen Center a reality. Pat also served as a mentor to MWYF student, Jabeiro Brown, from middle school until his high school graduation. Watch Pat sit down with, now University of Central Florida student, Jabeiro to discuss MWYF’s 25th anniversary, his relationship with Jabeiro and his impact on MWYF.
Why did you originally become involved with MWYF and the Board of Directors and what has your experience been?
I originally got involved with the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation because my daughter was playing tennis and we went over to the Foundation to have a tennis match and I just said, “Wow this is an interesting place, looks like a lot of good things are going on here.” And then I came back here and asked some questions and found out that Florida Blue is already sponsoring the Foundation. So I very quickly wanted to get involved, and Mal called me up and asked me to come down for a visit. When I walked around the campus and saw what was happening there I thought, this is a good program and I just want to be involved.
What do you feel is the importance of the Foundation and what impact is it making on the community?
You know I think the Foundation does great great work because grassroots work, works with kids giving them an opportunity, helping them with their studies, making sure they’re learning the right things to help them advance in their life, education, giving them some principles around hark work and understanding that it’s really important to be respectful and to learn. The Foundation does all of those things and I was just impressed with the way Mal worked with all of the kids and Terri Florio. They’re just so dedicated to what they do and the rest of the team there. I think the Foundation has given a lot of kids, like yourself the opportunity to go on to college and to advance in their opportunities.
Share a little bit about how we met and how it is to be a mentor.
Well, we met through the mentoring program, I believe you were in middle school at the time, so from the period of time till now where you dwarf me and where you’re now getting ready to into your senior year in college, which is impressive because I didn’t get any older, while you did all this growing, so I’m really pleased with that. But you have been a great young man to get to know, I think the mentoring program is an opportunity to share, to talk, and to be there when you needed me, and so know as you were going into college I wanted to be there and help you if there were any things you needed financially or otherwise and it’s just been rewarding to watch you grow and to see that your opportunities are that much bigger because of your time at UCF. So I’m looking forward to your graduation.
Why was it important for you and Florida Blue to be involved with the creation of the Club 904 Teen Center?
The 904 idea, when I heard about it was very interesting to me because obviously young people need a place to have some opportunity to enjoy themselves and to learn. And it was an extension to what was already going on at the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, so we were very interested at Florida Blue and I was interested personally with my wife Inger in sponsoring and being involved because we thought that many more kids are going to have an opportunity to engage with the Foundation and you’re gonna have a place to be on Friday and Saturday night, which is a healthy place and gives you an opportunity to express yourself and have a safe place to be. It just felt like the right thing for our organization to be a part of and you know as a 5 million dollar goal, we were really really proud to be able to kick that off and to make sure we got the funding that was necessary to have the 904 Club in place.
What would you say about MWYF’s 25th Anniversary this year and what are your hopes for the next 25 years?
Well, let me just say 25 years is an amazing accomplishment for Mal and Terri and for all of the team at the Foundation. So many young people’s lives have been changed because of the Foundation being in place. I play a small role, but I’m just really happy to be involved at all because you can see a number of young people who’ve been touched. One of the best days for me and being affiliated with the Foundation is when so many young people came over here and they met with our executive team and they came around and they took pictures sitting in my chair, some with their feet up on the desk, it was just a lot of fun and I think it’s really just been eye-opening to me to see how much the Foundation has been able to accomplish in the community. I hope that it affects so many more lives going forward with the Club, with continued support from the community for what’s happening at the Foundation. Let’s hope over the next 25 years we can impact at least twice as many young lives and give them a chance to have a healthy start to their life, advance their education and become whatever they want to be in life.
