As the Grant Research Assistant for the Community Foundation, he works with the Grant Services area researching and discovering new ways to bring grants to the community.
Rich believes he is a ‘born public servant,’ freely lending his talents wherever he has been led, from his teens as a volunteer fire fighter and EMT to a 30 year career with the State of New York as a University law enforcement officer and assistant civil engineer with the Department of Transportation. Rich has a heart to help and is always eager to facilitate progress or fill a need, so coming on board with the Community Foundation is really the next logical step for him as he engages in funding research for the nonprofit community of Ocala. He holds an associate degree in Drafting from SUNY Genesee Community College and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor degree in Theatre from the SUNY College at Brockport. He loves that Ocala is a mixture of farm and urban life having roots both on the farm and in the city. He has supported community theatre as a grant writer, playwright and a participant on and backstage. Rich also writes for a Finger Lakes, NY periodical.