Volunteer-Driven Success: How Freedom Waters Foundation Changes Lives On the Water.

Debra Frenkel

Howard: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. This is Howard Fox and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series, the podcast that celebrates individuals and families. Businesses and organizations that seek out and promote the exploration, stewardship, conservation, access, and enjoyment of the outdoors.

Howard: Debra Frankel is our guest today. Deborah is the founder and chief operating officer of Freedom.

Howard: Waters Foundation Now. The mission of the Freedom Waters Foundation is to enhance the wellbeing of children and adults with disabilities and veterans through therapeutic boating experiences. Deborah, good morning and welcome to the Outdoor Adventure Series.

Debra Frenkel: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Howard: Fantastic. Now, for our listeners, uh, where are you located?

Debra Frenkel: I'm in Naples, Florida.

Howard: [00:01:00] Beautiful Naples, Florida. Now. Weather's gotta be fantastic down there right now.

Debra Frenkel: It's pretty good. You want a little picture of the outside. There's

Howard: Yeah, let's get it outside. Okay.

Debra Frenkel: little cloud coverage, but it's not bad today.

Howard: Not that well. You, I mean, any day you're by the water and you have the ability to get out near the water is a good day. That was always been my feeling. Now, I, I, I love, uh, that Debbie Hansen, uh, introduced us, uh, to each other and look forward to. this episode and perhaps a few more to, uh, help tell the story of Freedom Waters Foundation.

Howard: But I would love for our listeners if you could share a little bit about your background, because you and I have a, a connection, I guess, of sort. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Debra Frenkel: So I'm originally from Chicago and I'm a licensed clinical social worker. and 20 years ago I was working, was it 20, more than 20 years ago, I was working at, uh, inner city. High school in Chicago, um, as a [00:02:00] social worker. And I also had a private practice and I was getting a little burnt out and I literally, literally started seeing sailboats in my head and, uh, went to learn how to sail at Burnham Harbor in Chicago.

Debra Frenkel: And, um, there was a disabled sailing program there, and that was kind of my entry into the disabled voting world.

Howard: Oh, fantastic. I learned how to sail when I lived in Chicago with, uh, sail Chicago. I, I, it was a nonprofit. I don't know if they're still around, but I know our members participated in some of the. Uh, disabled sailing, uh, days that were available throughout the, uh, the summer. I, it had have been a great experience just to kind of break away from the, the work, the, working in the schools and just getting out on the water and fresh air and a nice breeze and just being on a boat.

Debra Frenkel: I agree. I agree. There's no better place than being out on the water.

Howard: Now, how did you. Begin [00:03:00] this idea of going, coming from social work now, are you still practicing as a social worker or is you pretty much full time with

Debra Frenkel: Not a formal clinical clinic, not informal, formal clinical work. No, I'm, uh, I've been full-time at the foundation since, uh, since I incorporated in March of 2006.

Howard: Okay, excellent. How did you happen to, get the spark that this is what I want to do with the foundation, because that is a big step to go from a, a wor, a world that is very Planned out for us what we can do or need to do, where you're gonna do it. And now you have a blank, slate, clean slate.

Howard: And this, this foundation, when did this idea start to, uh, spark for you?

Debra Frenkel: So, like I said, my entry was into the disabled boating world was in October of nine, no, sorry, summer of 1999 when I started learning how to sail and I volunteered for the disabled [00:04:00] sailing program in Chicago. That was my entry in the disabled boating world. at that point I quit my job at the schools.

Debra Frenkel: At the end of the season, uh, the end of the sailing season, they asked me to, um, stay on the. Be on the payroll to help them close down the program for the season. They closed in October. I quit my job at the school system, um, and shut my own private practice and decided that I was gonna go, um, down to Florida, find a boat to be on in the Caribbean, and being paid one 2000 rolled over.

Debra Frenkel: And I knew nothing about boating and that level and knew nobody in Fort Lauderdale. But the very first door I knocked on was a yacht broker. It was Columbus Day, October 11th, 1999. Won't ever forget it. I knocked on John Weller's door and he was the only broker working on the holiday, and he is like, come on in.

Debra Frenkel: And I said, I'm a social worker who's gone awry. I wanna be on a boat when 2000 rolls over being paid. And he's like. All right, can you work at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show for [00:05:00] me in the couple weeks and we will introduce you to boat owners and captains, and we'll get you on a boat. All of that happened, so that was my entry into the yachting world.

Debra Frenkel: and I was on the, I was on 130 foot motor yacht for two and a half months, um, until I decided that it was, uh, not the right thing to do. cleaning toilets, cleaning sheets, and counseling the guests at the same time. So I decided with a master's degree, I should probably be sitting at the table with the guests versus, uh, cleaning their bathrooms and serving them.

Debra Frenkel: So, at the end of the two and a half months, I landed in Miami and, and then there becomes this whole kind of 10 year story that I'll give you more bullet points. I made a self-made Peace Corps and disabled sailing for myself. I didn't call it that at the time, but looking back, I call it that now.

Debra Frenkel: I ended up going back to Chicago. They asked me to come back and run the disabled sailing program for the next year, um, for the summer. So I did that and the [00:06:00] following summer, the Chicago Park District who was running the disabled sailing program had me run all of the sailing programs for the Park District on that third year.

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: in the meantime, I also had become pretty well known in the disabled sailing world, both nationally and internationally, because the national championship was at Chicago, uh, in Chicago. So I met a lot of the sailors. So, on the off season, I, I, are you ready for this? Usually I tell. I usually, I tell people it's a 10 year story.

Debra Frenkel: If you want the whole story, let's have lunch, but I'll give you more of it right now. I ended up, uh, incorporating a, another nonprofit for this group out of Australia who was building boats for people with disabilities to sail. I took those boats. I had a van with a trailer. One boat was on the top of the van.

Debra Frenkel: Three were on the trailer, and I pulled those from Orlando to Phoenix doing demonstrations on disabled sailing across the [00:07:00] way. I did that by myself. and then I also became the champ, the chair of the National Championship for disabled sailing for four years for US sailing. I wrote the manual, the draft manual on how to start a disabled sailing program for us sailing.

Debra Frenkel: so I went to Australia. I went to Canada, uh, with, for disabled sailing. So I disabled sailing became my world for a while. and then I ended up in Miami, and I'm gonna skip part of that story just to jump to the end of the story. so a lot more happened and I was getting tired of living out of suitcase and, and, uh, and being poor.

Debra Frenkel: And,I ended up, um, at this, uh, I was taking some classes at Nova Southeastern University just for something else to do. and I went to get. Redo my resume. And when I went in there, the gentleman said, um, what? You should talk the, talk to these people that it looks like you might have something in common.

Debra Frenkel: And I, we called the guy, it was a gentleman [00:08:00] named Andy at Tradewinds Foundation. We called him and he said, well, we don't have anything open right now, but send me your resume and I'll send it up to our president in New York. So we literally faxed it to him at that moment. 'cause faxing was, what was happening back then.

Debra Frenkel: And I went home and there was an email from a friend of mine in New Jersey who said, I sent a video of you doing a disabled sailing, um, a demonstration to a gentleman in California. Call him. He wants to start a disabled sailing program. So this time I was helping people across the country help programs if they needed that.

Debra Frenkel: So I called him and, uh, that gentleman said, oh, I already sent that video of you to our president in New York. So the guy in New York got my resume from somebody in Florida and a, and a video of me, um, from California. And a week later he was sitting in front of me in Fort Lauderdale and he said, would you like to start a disabled sailing program here in Fort Lauderdale and we'll pay you [00:09:00] $42,000?

Debra Frenkel: I just burst it out laughing and I said, okay, so, so when I was with Trade ones is when I started really all of our programs. I was with trade trade ones for about three years, uh, and then their funding source, uh, went dry and they closed their doors in October of oh five.

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: And then in that time, um, John Weller, who was the yacht broker that I met.

Debra Frenkel: When I first went down to Fort Lauderdale, he had just had his first bout of cancer and he had already been seeing me take kids out with cancer and helping me in some ways. And he came back and he's like, so did you decide what you're gonna do yet? And I said, no. And he said, well, you need your own foundation.

Debra Frenkel: Start your own foundation. And I said to him, I don't know how to do that. I have no idea. I have a thousand dollars in the bank, but I'm gonna do it and you're gonna be the co-founder. And that's how we started.

Howard: Wow. That is one heck of a story. [00:10:00] And, and I, and, and I have to say, uh, to think as you were starting to share it, it. You could have been the, the inspiration for a Jimmy Buffett song, being up in the Midwest and I'm tired of this and I need to, I need some fresh air and better weather and being out in the water.

Howard: I am curious as to circle back a little bit. What is unique about the dis boats that are getting outfitted for disabled sailors? Because you said you had one on the roof, you were trailering a couple more. What is, what, how big are the boats? What's unique about them that makes these the perfect, uh, boat at to safely get out there on the water with a, with a skipper?

Debra Frenkel: back in the day, um, those books that you're talking about and that I was and I was talking about are called Access ies. So here's a sample of one. so this woman was paralyzed from [00:11:00] her neck down. She had just a little bit movement in her right hand. So she, I met at a park and she said, oh, I've always wanted a salad.

Debra Frenkel: I, I would go boating by myself and I said, well, I can get, I can help you do that. And she's like, no, you can't. I challenged her to come down to the lake. We strapped a joystick on her leg. I showed her how to use the joystick to let the tiller go left and right, and the sail go in and out. And the first time she went out, I went with her.

Debra Frenkel: And the second time she went out, she went out by herself and she was out there for about an hour smiling and laughing and, uh, being the happiest that she's been, and the only time she's been out of a bed or out of a wheelchair in her life. So.

Howard: Oh.

Debra Frenkel: So these boats are, um, that are made in Australia. There's other brands too, but these are called accessing these.

Debra Frenkel: They're either seven and a half feet long or 10 feet long. The 10 foot one has two cells. The [00:12:00] 10 foot, the seven and a half foot one has, Has only a one sale. Both of them have a weighted center boards, so there's already lead in the bottom of the center boards. And then once you drop 'em, they fill with water on top of that.

Debra Frenkel: So basically the boats are not going to tip over. so those are the boats that I was trailing across the country.

Howard: Okay. Now are, are these boats designed? So you went out with the, this young lady the first time. are they designed to stay in the safety of the harbor? Because I know like at Burnham Harbor in Chicago, there was a, there was an open area, but it's not like Monroe Harbor where we used to, where I learned how to sail.

Debra Frenkel: Well, these are not the boats that we used on in Chicago. In Chicago. They used Colgate. Colgate 26. I, no, no, they, uh, no, they used in Independence twenties, which are 20 foot boats that have, um, secured seats. both, both aft and [00:13:00] forward. So they didn't use these, these we use more on like lakes or in protected areas.

Howard: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Sounds, appreciate that Now. As you began to, to create the this foundation and what, what were some of the. The milestones that like, this is really happening here. 'cause it, I I, where I live right now in Las Vegas, my roommate and her boyfriend are trying to create a nonprofit. They've been at it for a couple years.

Howard: It's not easy. So how, what were some of your lessons learned and when did you realize, wow, this is really happening here? This, this, and, and this is gonna, this is gonna take off and people are going to be excited about it. What, what, uh, what were some of those, those milestones for you?

Debra Frenkel: Well, first I would say that John calling me and saying, Deb, you [00:14:00] need to do this. And me saying, okay, I'm gonna do it, and I was terrified and had no clue what I was doing. and, and I am a, well, obviously I'm a risk taker. and so I, I literally, I'm not, I'm not a religious person, but I'm a spiritual person and I feel like I'm pretty connected to whatever energies out there.

Debra Frenkel: And I literally did this, all right. I'm giving you five years. You can have five years of my life, but you have to help me and. Literally, I would get up every morning and I would say, what am I supposed to do today? And whatever would come in my head, whoever I was supposed to call or what, whoever, wherever I was supposed to go, I just did it.

Debra Frenkel: I just did it. And I, I just kept following that inner voice, just following that inner voice, just following that inner voice. And then at the end of, and I had already had a reputation because of, I had built some of this at Trade Ones, right? So, at the end of the year, when. When my accountant was doing the [00:15:00] taxes, she's like, so, you, you brought in about $90,000 and you spent about, and I said, what did you just say?

Debra Frenkel: And she said, you brought in about $90,000. And literally I went like this. I. I, I had not focused on money at all. Had no idea. Had no idea, but it was just, people saw what I was doing and they, they supported what I was doing and they trusted me. And so that was a big moment where I was like, oh my gosh.

Debra Frenkel: I have, I have energy and people behind this, So that was just the first year. And then when I got to the fifth year, and I was still the only employee and I was only paid $30,000 for seven years, but I was the only employee and I did everything. I did the accounting, I did the statistic keeping, I did, I did the programming.

Howard: I was running, to three different areas. Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Naples, like I was doing a [00:16:00] lot, but I had a ton of volunteer help. A ton of volunteer help. I could have never done this without volunteers. So that was, that was big. And then, um, I'm trying to think of what other milestones like, When you had your first.

Debra Frenkel: probably easier if I just tell you where I'm at now. Like last year, last year I was still the executive director. we only had five employees, three full-time, two part-time. We had over, we had over 600 volunteers and we did over 5,300 on the water experiences. And we did that in, uh, Southwest Florida, Southeast Florida.

Debra Frenkel: Georgia and Indiana, and when I, and I brought in $1.8 million last year, so when I think about like where I started with a nickel in my pocket and not knowing what the hell I was doing, and really, I tell [00:17:00] people for the short story, I say when people say like, why did you do this? How'd you do it? I just say, this is what the universe was, I was meant to do in the universe and, and I'm, and I did it.

Debra Frenkel: And I just sort of channeled the whole thing, and to this day I still channel it, whatever I'm supposed to do. Yeah,

Howard: so after five years you look back up and you said, okay, thank you very much. What are we gonna do for the next five years? And the five years after that, I would imagine.

Debra Frenkel: yeah. Well, after the first five years I was like, okay, I've made it five years, and it wasn't ready to like. Go without me so I can tell you what's happened. And it's just like grazing that child, like, a a, a business, any business, whether it's for profit or nonprofit, has the, has a life cycle. Like, like anything else does.

Debra Frenkel: Like anything. So, the first year it's an infant, it's getting, it's learning how to call, it's trying to figure out if it's gonna even [00:18:00] exist, like. Five years old. It's kind of, you're established. People know you're not going anywhere. You've proved yourself. you're, the kid can start going off to school and you can do more without you being everywhere with that child 10 years is like, wow.

Debra Frenkel: 10 years, you've made it 10 years, now you have employees. Now it's expanding your, and then 15 years now you're in different territories, different states. You have many more people who are involved. You've built a bigger, greater family that's all built on love and, and giving and caring for others.

Debra Frenkel: And now you're here at 20. And I am 63 years old. So at last December, I said to the board, I think it's time that we find my successor because I'm not gonna be here forever and I need a life of my own. so, and the [00:19:00] organization is getting legs of its own, so, so I don't know if that helps with the description of

Howard: No, I think you've, you've done a great job of painting the picture and something I'm curious about too, as you were growing, and again, we'll, we'll go back and forth between the present and as the, the, the foundation has. Came off where, and, and I know you're, you started with, the, the, the, uh, the children who were disabled, perhaps young adults, et cetera.

Howard: and I know you've ventured into some other areas as well, other illnesses and, veterans with PTSD where were the first. Participants in these on the water programs, where are they? Where are they coming from? How did they find you, or how did you promote yourself as this is available for to parents and your kids, bring your kids out?

Howard: How did that start to evolve for you to get that traction?

Debra Frenkel: So the original, original, when I [00:20:00] first started when Trade with Trade ones, because I just got to continue when I start, when I established Freedom Waters Foundation. But the first thing I did was I would go to the local hospitals and I would meet with. The life skills specialists or the social workers in the oncology departments for pediatric oncology.

Debra Frenkel: That's where we started. We started with kids with cancer because of John. And he wanted to take more kids out with cancer because he's going through his own cancer experience. Boom. And so he would get the boats because he was the yacht broker, and I would get the kids, and this was even while I was unemployed between Tradewinds and, and establishing Freedom Waters Foundation.

Debra Frenkel: So being a social worker, it's not hard for me to go in and talk to people and like explain what we're gonna do. And then I established relationships with some of the local social workers in the onco pediatric oncology, hospital, uh, programs and the local agencies that supported kids with cancer.

Debra Frenkel: [00:21:00] And that's where we started. And then that has just grown to people with disabilities, veterans, to, to now it's easier for me to say the people we don't serve and the people we don't serve, either really healthy and wealthy. And sometimes they'll serve them too if they have a child with a disability or somebody with cancer in their family

Howard: right. What do you

Debra Frenkel: or illness.

Howard: what do you think the these therapeutic water experiences. And you, you kinda shared it with the young lady in, in the picture you showed us, but what is that? What has been the overall feeling from them as they're out on the water they're experiencing? The, these activities, whether it's, sailing or, or I imagine there's fish taking, kids with, uh, disabilities or cancer taking 'em out, fishing, teaching 'em how to fish.

Howard: [00:22:00] What do you think that it is about being out on the water and just the breeze and in your case, the salt air and just that, that it has on people and especially folks that are going through A life struggle?

Debra Frenkel: So I'm gonna answer that on multiple levels.

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: When I first was, uh, writing up the business plan for the organization, I, um, I had about 200 names and I finally called a friend of mine who's a paralympic sailor. And I said, Bob, what is it about going out on the water? Why do you wanna keep sailing so much?

Debra Frenkel: And he said, the freedom. And I was like, thank you. That's all I needed. And so I, I took freedom and waters, the f stood for my name. The W stood for John Waller's name. So we had our, and it just was perfect. So that's, that's the first that people really feel the freedom, the relaxation. We have, our [00:23:00] tagline is sharing freedom and joy on and off the water.

Debra Frenkel: So I would say the freedom and joy are primary and just relaxing, But there's a whole nother piece to it, is that. Humans are made 70% out of water. We are birth, we are birthed out of a water sack. We are, we have a natural affinity to water. We need it to survive, right? So. So being in on the water is just a natural place for a human to feel comfortable, cared for.

Debra Frenkel: I mean, if you have a good experience in the womb, it's the safest place for a human to come from, right?

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: Mm-hmm. So, and the nature itself has healing properties outside of the water. So just being outside and the combination with water is just, it's naturally healing.

Howard: I have a, a guest that was on the [00:24:00] podcast a couple weeks back and episodes published. His name is, his name is Barry Shimel Farb, and he lives, or he lives in like South Bay area in the, uh, in California. But he has a home in Carmel by the sea and. Long story. He, uh, really came di diagnosed with a very, uh, bad form of cancer, but he had this cottage in Carmel that he turned it into a retreat for folks that were going through a similar life struggle.

Howard: But that which you just shared, that connection of nature and healing is so very important and it comes, comes to us in many shapes and environments, whether it's the mountains here in the desert. In Nevada or the, the, a cottage in California or out in the water and, out of, in the bay or a lake in, in, in Florida.

Howard: And, and it, I, I think there's so much to that and it's, it's definitely worth [00:25:00] continuing to explore, at least through this podcast. So I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you.

Debra Frenkel: Welcome. I'll share two more things with you. So the other thing of when I'm talking to my volunteers, and I've taught my staff this too, when we're training our volunteers, I say, if you're in touch with what's in here. And you can share that this way and appropriately share it that way. You are the best volunteer for us if you can share the love in your heart, a true love and caring in your heart with other people in an appropriate way, you're the for perfect person for our organization.

Debra Frenkel: This organization is built out of love and, and, and, and caring for other people. we just use the water as a vehicle. So that's, that's one thing. The other thing I wanted to say is whatever you believe in, whatever, whether you're religious or not religious, whether you believe in God or, or some divinity or just energy, whatever that is, if you can [00:26:00] connect to whatever that is, the days where you feel most connected to that, a lot of times is out in nature

Howard: Right.

Debra Frenkel: and it's where you feel most alive.

Howard: Sure. I love it. Now with your volunteers, where, where are they coming from? Is it, is it, uh, they've perhaps had a child, uh, or a, a sibling that was going through a. a challenging episode in their life and they wanted to stay a part of it, or some people heard about it and just wanna feel like they're giving back and they have that what you're looking for?

Howard: The heart. Heart and loving and caring. So how are you recruiting volunteers to, to be a part of this organization?

Debra Frenkel: So initially it was the peoples closest to me. Then anyone who was close to me who loved boating, then it was anyone. Who, loved children or, or veterans. we, I would be out in certain [00:27:00] places where, and I would be saying, anyone wanna volunteer? I can use you. How can use you? I mean, and now, we're a lot larger, so we have a lot more outreach.

Debra Frenkel: We outreach and. Goes, we outreach to agencies. a lot of word of mouth people come. We have a lot of veterans who have come to us as veterans to go out on in our program, and then they wanna volunteer. So we have a lot of veterans who are volunteering now. yeah, so it comes all multiple ways.

Howard: Okay. Where are the what, where, what is the breadth of the program on in its location? So you start, you started, at Tradewinds, you're in Naples,

Debra Frenkel: Well, I started Tradewinds on the east coast of Florida. I lived in Hollywood

Howard: a Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale area, okay?

Debra Frenkel: This started in Fort Lauderdale. I started in March 2 0 6. I moved to Naples in 2008, which is why our main office is here now. So we operate, our main operation is Naples, Fort [00:28:00] Myers area, Southwest Florida. and then we have, uh, another office in Fort Lauderdale where we have two employees.

Debra Frenkel: So the Southeast Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach area. And then, um, we do a weekend in Georgia and a weekend in Indiana and the weekend in Georgia. We just had 948 people on the water in one

Howard: Oh wow.

Debra Frenkel: In Indiana, we would've had 500 on the water, except there was a straight line storm that took out the ducks for the second day.

Debra Frenkel: So, so, but yeah, we're, so that's where we're at. And this year we're, we are supposed to go to Missouri and do well one day boat trip, but we'll, we're still working on recruiting for that for some veterans.

Howard: Okay. Wow. And the range of programs that are available. For whether it's a,a DI disability, uh, the [00:29:00] illness such as cancer or a veteran, what is the, what are the range of programs that are available? If I, we were gonna go to your website, which I would love to do in a second, what are some of those programs?

Debra Frenkel: So the first one is our Weller Days, which I named after John. His, his name was John Weller, and I thought, how appropriate you get Weller on the water. I get to name something after him that will be for a lifetime. And, um, so those Weller days can be, they started out with one child with cancer for a three hour boat trip with their family, and we serve lunch and give water.

Debra Frenkel: those have changed into, um, it can be one boat, it can be multiple boats. It can be a 17 foot boat with through two people that on it. It can be a, 140 foot boat with. I have 140 people on it. It can be multiple areas. we usually still go out for an hour and a half to three hours. We use commercial and private boats.

Debra Frenkel: We own no boats of our [00:30:00] own. so we do a lot of recruitment of boat owners and partnerships with community businesses as well. in Georgia we just had a hundred, I believe it was 155 boats on the water for the weekend. And those are all local boat odors who are generous and caring and, uh, wanna give back in their communities.

Debra Frenkel: I don't know, what did that cover the question?

Howard: I think you, you did and I think what We'll, we'll, we'll see some more, I'm sure as we go

Debra Frenkel: to know more about our program. So that's just the weller days. Weller days also include fishing, so we'll do fishing as well. we have two fishing tournaments for, uh, at-risk youth. One is called heels and reels for girls. And boys and bait for boys. And then we have, uh, male mentors for the boys and female mentors for the girls when they go fishing.

Debra Frenkel: So they learn a little bit about life skills and also learn to fish. we have the adaptive sailing program, which we're partnered with the county here in Naples, [00:31:00] Florida, Collier County. so there they teach people with disabilities how to sell. We also have a veteran sailing program. And then we have our veterans program, which I started in 2012 when a vet center counselor came to me and said, can you do something for veterans?

Debra Frenkel: And I said, yeah, I think there's a need there. And we, uh, we had nine veterans signed up to go out fishing and only two showed up. And the

Howard: Oh

Debra Frenkel: that. The two that showed up had their hugs looking down and said, this is too hard. Let's just go home. They both had TBIs and PTSD and I said, no, you guys are here.

Debra Frenkel: Let's go fishing. So I took those two. The counselor went and got another one out of bed and he took 'em on the other boat. When we came back, they were all changed men. They were smiling, laughing, talking. One of 'em who was super shy on top of his illnesses said, you need to do this for more veterans. And I said, well, you need to come into my office and help me and we'll do it for more veterans.

Debra Frenkel: And he did. He did. He came [00:32:00] in, he wrote an orientation on how civilians should talk to veterans. We still use that same orientation today, 13 years later. And the very next boat trip we did was on the Naples Princess, which is a dinner boat cruise, a three story dinner, boat, cruise. We had 140 veterans, no spouses on that boat, and we've been doing it ever.

Howard: I love it. I love it. Well, listen, Deborah, I'm gonna, uh, shift this over to your website. I'd love if you would just kind of take us on a tour. I, I know it's, it's gonna be worked on, but, uh, it's great website. I love the logo and, uh. When I see a smiling child at the wheel of a very big boat, I think that just makes me happy.

Howard: So, I want to share my screen now and hopefully with the miracle of technology, uh, you should be seeing the screen.

Debra Frenkel: I see it.

Howard: So take us on a little tour.

Debra Frenkel: so this is our homepage.

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: there you have our impact report. You can push on that button. You'll [00:33:00] see our latest impact report. No, the one above it. The one above it.

Howard: Okay. Oh,

Debra Frenkel: the.

Howard: there we go.

Debra Frenkel: Yep. That one right there,

Howard: Excellent. Oh, there's

Debra Frenkel: that is, yep. He actually passed away last October,

Howard: Oh, wow.

Debra Frenkel: so I dedicated the impact report to him. that's his daughter who's like my little sister there. We are back in the day our mission, who we serve, our impact,

Howard: wonderful.

Debra Frenkel: and agencies we serve.

Howard: Excellent. Okay. And I love the mission. I, I, I lifted that when I did my, uh, prepared my intro, so thank you for that.

Debra Frenkel: You're very welcome. And then here we just have our latest, uh, special events that are coming up. So we have a, a fundraiser in Fort Lauderdale. this. Coming Thursday, um, in [00:34:00] November, we have a Bill's boat Shoe Bash, uh, which is in honor of our, um, sailing instructor who passed away. and that's ma raising money for the adaptive sailing.

Debra Frenkel: And then our kind Mariners Ball, which is our big fundraiser, which is gonna be in February.

Howard: Excellent. Okay, so you've got veteran sailing every Wednesday.

Debra Frenkel: And this is a big veterans' outing that they're doing on the Jungle Queen, um, in Fort Lauderdale on actually on Veterans Day.

Howard: Okay, very good. So you have the programs volunteer opportunities. So if we go back, so let's see if we click here, programs and events.

Debra Frenkel: Yeah,

Howard: I love the photo.

Debra Frenkel: a really special photo because this was a really special boat, um, which was fantastic for heavy electric wheelchairs. Like this young man's in this young man was in a car accident and he didn't think he'd ever be able to get on the water again or [00:35:00] fish. And here he was able to do both. They, we had a special, wrist wrap for him that held a rod and he was able to catch fish and yeah, I had a great time.

Howard: Excellent.

Debra Frenkel: But we don't always get boats like that because,that gentleman doesn't own that boat anymore, so we don't have it any longer.

Howard: All right. Well, and I would imagine volunteers c come into and out of, the organization, people move into and out of the Naples Fort Myers area, and they're bringing with them their experiences of volunteering. So, okay. Adaptive sailing, there's the dinghy. See, I think I needed to learn how to sail on that boat.

Howard: And so I, I learned to sail on our roads. 19. But, uh,

Debra Frenkel: Oh, you can come down and sell with us anytime you want.

Howard: I love it. I love it. Well, I've gotta come down. the shout out to Debbie is I, I only learned how to fish last year. In Johnson City, uh, Tennessee. So I need to [00:36:00] go do some more fishing. And so perfect reason to come down there for a visit and do some more podcasting and say, Debbie.

Howard: Okay, let's go.

Debra Frenkel: Good. That'd be great. Just let us know. We'll make sure you get on a boat.

Howard: Excellent. So now you've got your participant. Now these are the participants, uh, who

Debra Frenkel: That's just for them to sign up so a person can sign up themselves, or ref, or an agency can refer them

Howard: Excellent. And you've got the volunteer sign up. let's click on

Debra Frenkel: and folks can sign up too. It's all the same form. Just go. You could just go down.

Howard: Okay.

Debra Frenkel: Yeah. If you just click on any of the signups, it's all the same form.

Howard: it I, and I, I look at this as such a one, if you have a boat. Or you have the skill of knowing how to sail and kinda worked with folks that are need a, the assistance, it, it, I can't imagine you not coming back with a smile on your face and the difference you made in, [00:37:00] in someone's life and through the fishing, through the adaptive sailing.

Howard: And you've got your vol. Here's your volunteers, you've got your various committees. You got a lot going on for this, uh, nonprofit.

Debra Frenkel: Yeah. Thank you. We do.

Howard: a nice smiling face there. Excellent. So anything else before we kind of head back? is

Debra Frenkel: I really, go ahead.

Howard: I was gonna say, is there like photos or anything Here?

Debra Frenkel: Um, I don't know unless, can you go to the, um, about part in the first

Howard: look at the about Part I

Debra Frenkel: and see.

Howard: There, there we go. It's always the last place you look, Deborah. All

Debra Frenkel: Well, this, this website doesn't, is not heavy on photos. We have a, lot of our photos, all of our trips are posted on Facebook. So they're all, under Freedom Waters Foundation. But here, few selective ones.

Howard: Okay. Very cool.

Howard: Well, listen, I'm gonna stop sharing so [00:38:00] that you and I are back together again. So I, I know you kind of mentioned, you're, it's, you said to the board, okay, we need to find my replacement and. But a, as you look back in this legacy that you have built, and the, this really started with, with, uh, w with with John, as you look back, what, what has been your, your, I would call it your aha moment.

Howard: Like, wow, I can't believe what we've done here.

Debra Frenkel: So there was a boat owner. I was, I was with, uh, one of the mothers of a child with a disability who I've known for probably 16 years, and I. And I was interviewing her and the boat owner, um, who happened to own a very large boat. He, we went on a 92 foot motor yacht. And her mom said, you should really said to him, you should really [00:39:00] interview Debbie and I, and I, and, and he said, okay.

Debra Frenkel: And I said, okay. And he, and she said, and you should really hold Riley. So I was holding her son, who's now like, big and, but very, he's, he is, he has cerebral palsy and very, tight. His muscles are very tight. So, so I'm holding Riley and, and this gentleman asked me, is Freedom Waters Foundation, everything you thought it would be?

Debra Frenkel: And this was about probably eight years ago. And I said, well, since I never thought it would be anything, it's way beyond anything I ever thought. I mean. I, I didn't, I had no clue when I started what it was gonna be. And he said, and in all the years that you've been doing this, how many lives do you think you've touched?

Debra Frenkel: And I had never thought about that. And I started calculating. And I'm telling you, this was like eight years ago, so I'm talking, we were 20 years old now, so it was like in our 12th year. And I started calculating, and tears started. It's gonna start right now [00:40:00] too. Tears started rolling down my eyes. And I said, I don't know, maybe 40, 60,000, and it surprised me. so at this point, when I think back now, um, how many, like I have, I mean, I have no idea how many, but thousands and thousands of lives, and I'm a, I I don't ever need to be on the front of anything. I don't ever need a thank you. I don't mean any of that, but that's, that's what's important to me.

Howard: Beautiful. That's beautiful.[00:41:00]

Debra Frenkel: Now you know who I really am.

Howard: And thank you for sharing that. I, I, I, it's wonderful that you're, you've gifted us with that. I, I, I am curious back, when you first started and you looked up to,

Debra Frenkel: Whatever that is.

Howard: wherever that is. I'm not very religious either, so I can appreciate that. I was just meditating in a class before our podcast.

Howard: So, when you. kind of looked up and said, okay, five year, you got five years. show me what you got. Has there been a, is there a and your relationship with, with John Weller and others books or, or classes you've taken, or quotes you've read? Is there, is there like a, a guiding light that.

Howard: You just share with people [00:42:00] wherever you go, whatever you're doing about this work and about the importance of it and, and really taking a chance. I mean, you literally did 180 degree turn on your career. You left social work. You, you, you went, you, you did the Jimmy Buffett song going down to Florida and getting on a boat and et cetera.

Howard: But is there a quote or a book or a gu, something that just kind of continues to guide your nor your toward your North Star?

Debra Frenkel: So I, I think that what I had on the t-shirts and what I used to tell everybody and what I had across the brochures from day one was making it happen. Making it happen. Let's just make it happen. Let's make it happen. That's so that was what was driving me. I made it happen. I still make it happen. That's how, that's, put it in front of me.

Debra Frenkel: I'll make it happen. Put it in front of me. I'll make it happen. So that was our slogan for years and years and years. And then when we came up, the board came up with sharing freedom and joy on and off the [00:43:00] water to say more of what we do. But that was what I personally did was making it happen. I think for that's like.

Debra Frenkel: For the foundation, for me personally, um, I, I, my own personal mission is, I came up with, with this for a long, a life, a long, long time ago when I was suffering and, um, and it was, what I want on my epi habitat. And I came up with, she learned to love life while helping others do the same.

Howard: Beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.

Debra Frenkel: And I'll tell you this morning, I shared with my staff, um, I, I was, well, we just came back from a yoga retreat, um, on Sunday, on Saturday, and one of the first rules of the yoga, yoga retreat was life happens for you, not to you.

Howard: Right.

Debra Frenkel: And that's what I left my stuff with this morning.

Howard: I love [00:44:00] it. and I, I, you're making a difference every day. And, and, and, and, uh, that's what I love about coaching. And it's just, you get to have an impact on other, on other people's lives. And, you're doing that through, just being a social worker. You give up a lot to do that work.

Howard: It's very hard and it, it takes a lot out of you day in, day out. And now you, and you've channeled that into this nonprofit and that's absolutely wonderful. And so

Debra Frenkel: So the other thing I just wanna say is that, I've told everybody who comes into this organization, one is we're a family,

Howard: Right.

Debra Frenkel: and two is like everybody has their own story. The minute you walk in this door, there's a reason you're here and now it becomes your organization with your story. So like if you asked John Weller what his story was, 'cause he was co-founder, his story was that he had his.

Debra Frenkel: He had cancer, he was walking down the halls [00:45:00] of MD Anderson, saw little kids with their, with their intravenous chemo and was like, I wanna take more kids with cancer out on boats. Like, that was his thing, So like, but everybody who comes in here, everyone has their own peace and their own story.

Debra Frenkel: So it's not mine, it's everybody's and it's a family.

Howard: I love it. I love it. Now, I, I know you have, we've just came back from, uh, the website, uh, freedom Waters Foundation, uh, dot org. The other social sites you're on are.

Debra Frenkel: LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Howard: Okay. And we will provide the, uh, links, uh, back in our, our show notes. Debra, I am ex really a great appreciative totally of Debbie making this introduction for us. And, for our listeners, Debbie Hansen is a peer, uh, fellow journalist, uh, friend from the [00:46:00] Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Howard: And, and it was, uh, hurry. And she now works for you? Yes. but, really love Debbie and her work, and I really do want to get down there and, and so she can teach me how to fish some more. See, I'm, I, you and I are around the same age and it's like, what? I'm crossing things off my bucket list now, uh, fishing.

Howard: but. But I would love, I'm sure there's some other wonderful stories, uh, about the foundation, especially some of the parents with their kids, maybe some of the, the folks that are helping to support the, the activities of the foundation, the boat owners or the, the community. I think there's some wonderful stories there.

Howard: So hopefully we'll get to do some, uh, more podcasting, uh, as well and promote the Freedom Waters Foundation. So, but thank you for your time and. Energy and just kind of making a difference in, in sharing a little bit about your journey on the podcast. So thank you so much.

Debra Frenkel: [00:47:00] Thank you. Let me also mention we are on YouTube as well.

Debra Frenkel: And on YouTube as well. Thank you.

Howard: somebody off the side saying YouTube?

Debra Frenkel: I forgot. I forgot. Now, when you mentioned, when you mentioned stories about other people, like we have lots of testimonials in our videos on YouTube, so.

Howard: you've got everything you need then and de Debra. Thank you so much and again, I look forward to hopefully meeting you in person someday and, uh, just, uh, and enjoying hearing more of your story and just really, getting that feeling of the passion you're bringing to the table here.

Howard: So thank you so much.

Debra Frenkel: Thank you. I look forward to meeting you too.

Howard: All right, li take care. Listen, stay in line. We're gonna do a quick close, and you and I can have a final check.

Debra Frenkel: Okay, sure.

Howard: All right, folks, we've just been chatting with Debra Frankl, founder and chief operating officer of the Freedom Waters Foundation. What a, a wonderful organization, uh, down in, in, in South Florida, [00:48:00] and, and in parts. Around Georgia, Indiana, maybe Missouri. Sometime you should come out to Lake Mead here in in Nevada. I think we could probably do that, but

Debra Frenkel: I did a demonstration on my like, mean.

Howard: We gotta do another one. All right. I love it. And just the, hearing about the mission of the Freedom Waters Foundation and really the, to enhance the lives and wellbeing and just the emotional wellbeing, uh, of children and adults with disabilities, illness such as cancer. And also for our veterans who are navigating, uh, their, uh,

Howard: Lives that they're facing, having been in, in the military. And with that, we know it takes how it takes, effect on them as well. And here, this foundation is just doing a wonderful job of providing, uh, a lot of programming to support, uh, these cons constituencies. Now, uh, do go out to the Freedom Waters [00:49:00] Foundation website.

Howard: We're gonna provide a back link to it as well as to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages. As for us, you can find this episode on our website, outdoor adventure series.com. We're also on LinkedIn and Facebook. the YouTube, uh, of this episode will be, uh, the video of this episode will be up on YouTube, and of course, you can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcast from.

Howard: Okay, folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there. Have a fantastic day. We look forward to having you join us on the future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast. Take care now.