LOCAL RED CROSS WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

LOCAL RED CROSS WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stephen Dickey, M.D., Gen. Ben Nelson, Jr., Edward Giunta II, Rebecca Sykes and Robert Thatcher Join Tampa Bay Chapter Team

TAMPA BAY, FL, FRIDAY, August 9, 2013…The Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross recently held its 96th annual meeting at the Tampa Museum of Art and welcomed new board members, Stephen F. Dickey, M.D., Brigadier General Ben Nelson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.), Edward Giunta II, Rebecca Sykes and Robert Thatcher.

Stephen F. Dickey, M.D. has been affiliated with the Tampa Bay Chapter since 1986.  He was president of the Board of Directors in 1998 and became a lifetime director in 2000.  Dr. Dickey practiced emergency medicine in Community Hospital in New Port Richey, Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach and served as Director of Emergency Department at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa from 1974-1979.  In 1980, Dr. Dickey founded Doctor’s Walk-In Clinics and in 2010 became the president of Dickey Holdings, Inc. 

Brigadier General Ben Nelson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.), is a former CEO and board member of the Tampa Bay Chapter.  His career in the U.S. Air Force took him to bases across the globe where he served as an instructor pilot, flight commander, chief of the Technical Training, operations officer and commander of the 56th Tactical Training Wing, MacDill Air Force Base.  General Nelson is currently a Broker Associate at RJ King Associates Healthcare Real Estate Advisors in Tampa.

Edward Giunta II is currently the Director of Real Estate for Circle K and has been a licensed Real Estate broker for L.E.G., LLC since January 2010.  Edward was Director of Development for Giunta Ventures, Inc. for six years overseeing  time-critical turnkey commercial anchored, strip, single tenant, and self-storage construction projects.

Rebecca Sykes, along with her husband Chuck, and their two children Kelly (23) and Connor (20), has resided in the Tampa Bay community for 17 years.   She has served on the PTA committees of Hunter’s Green Elementary, Benito Middle and Wharton High School for 15 years and is the main underwriting sponsor and organizer of the Young Life golf fundraiser in New Tampa.  Along with her husband, and on behalf of Sykes Enterprises, she has co-chaired many fundraising events supporting education and hunger relief and finding cures for cancer and heart disease.”

Robert Thatcher has recently rejoined the Board of Directors of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross.  He originally served on the Board from 1996 through 2003 and was the Chapter Chairman in 2002-03.  Bob owns Logistics-Savings.com, LLC which specializes in freight audit, freight brokerage and logistics consulting for e-commerce and International shipments.  

Newly elected Board Chairman Gregory Morgan said “I am very excited about working with our new board members.  Our board has an incredible amount of talented, compassionate members and the addition of Dr. Dickey, Mr. Giunta, Ms. Sykes and Mr. Thatcher will increase our ability to accomplish our lifesaving mission,” stated Morgan.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.