by Michele Newbern Gillis
The real estate community likes to give back and last month the Ponte Vedra Council heard from another place that needs help.
Council members gathered at the Sawgrass Country Club last month to hear Keith Denton, founder and executive director of the Seamark Ranch, a future children’s home for abused, neglected and orphaned children, tell his story and encourage the real estate community to get involved.
Denton was dropped off at the Big Oak Ranch for Boys, a home for unwanted boys, in Alabama the day after his 10th birthday. He says it was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. He was given a home, house parents and ultimately a future.
After several tumultuous years at the ranch (he tried in vain for several years to get kicked out,) he finally turned his life around and ended up graduating valedictorian of his class and headed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
His next step was law school, but he never made it. Instead, he was asked to come back to the ranch and help run it. He did and never looked back.
Now, he is making it his life’s work to create a ranch similar to the Big Oak Ranch in Clay County.
He has 468 acres of rural land on SR 16 about 4 miles from Penney Farms donated by developers Chester Stokes and Hawley Smith.
“It is really a beautiful piece of property. We are really blessed,” said Denton.
He has raised a substantial of the amount needed to start construction on the ranch, but he always needs more. Denton plans to open his first home for girls sometime this year and the second for boys next year.
The goal is to build five to six homes each for the boys and girls, an administrative pod, amenities pod, farming and life stock center and an equestrian program.
He said it is important for girls and boys both to be given a chance to have a home and turn around their life.
“I’m going to make sure that when we take the children, we take all of them,” said Denton.
Ed Burr, president and CEO of LandMar Group and The Monique Burr Foundation, addressed the need to give back.
Through the Monique Burr Foundation, he and his company have embraced issues of children here in Jacksonville.
“As a company, we have donated over $3 million in last four years and thousands of hours of time to charitable causes,” said Burr, who is on the board of directors of the Seamark Ranch. “I know that LandMar has made a difference in the lives of children in Northeast Florida and we are a better company for it.”
He cited that many times it takes a crisis in a person’s life to jar them into seeing the need to help.
“I’m going to encourage each of you to not wait for a tragedy to happen,” said Burr. “Each of you can make a difference in a child’s life by giving, time, energy, effort or companionship.”