A lot of fantastic people have been involved in the activities committee since it's beginning. They each have put in a lot of time and energy. But there is a reason for the difficulties in putting on these activities and there is a reason that more people don't jump on the committee. Good people can work really hard with the best intentions, but if the whole philosophy is fundamentally flawed, the system won't work.

Daybreak gets bigger every year, yet the amount of $$ available for activities has gone down. It is not covered by the HOA, as some would mistakenly believe, but rather the sale and resale of homes. That is why it is a flawed calculation. Even in a healthy market in which 1,000 homes a year were being built and sold, the funding wouldn't go up, but the number of people served would continue to increase, forcing the committee to charge for things, cut back on food and activities, etc. It's a losing propostition. Eventually, when Daybreak is completed, The activities for 14,000 families would have to be funded by the resales in the community. Impossible. For the biggest community event of the year, the Summer Celebration was massively lacking. Why? No money, no food, etc.

The answer doesn't lie in creating incentives to get volunteers, or by discussing cuts that can be done to fit the activities into a budget. It necessitates a complete paradigm shift in the way community works. I would love an open discussion of this with the residents of Daybreak. I have already shared a vision of what I think could be done with Tina, Derrick and Gina among others on the staff and activities committee, but it was to no avail. There is a better way, but it requires change, and change is uncomfortable for most people.