"What do you want?"

We get that a lot, and it’s completely understandable. Jane and I are new to Naples, and what we’re doing is new, too. We don’t mind taking some lumps until people get better acquainted with us.

After all, we’re from New England. You haven’t been held at arm’s length until you’ve spent some time with the children of the Pilgrims. (“We put the grim in Pilgrim” might be a good slogan for some parts of that region). Jane’s a native of Boston, and both of my parents grew up there, and I lived there from 1991 until last September. Our children were born there. We have a thriving business there still, established six years ago. No matter. To a lot of our friends, I’m still an outsider.

People in Naples are a lot – okay, a tremendous amount – warmer than that. But some people around town don’t trust me right off the bat; I think they’re afraid I’m a carpet bagger, storming into town to take advantage and disappear as quickly as I arrived.* There’s a lot of that in Florida. Who could blame them?

*(I say “I” here because nobody would ever suspect Jane of anything untoward. You can’t help but trust her as soon as you meet her. She’s just that kind of person).

So, what do we want? Nothing. And I think that intimidates a lot of people.

“What do you mean, 'Nothing?'” some people seem to think. “Really, what do you want from us? What’s the catch?”

Jane and I started our nonprofit to make the world a better place. Just like every legitimate nonprofit. What do we want? We want to help.

That’s the catch. Let us help you.