Lakewood Ranch loses an altruistic force

When David Fink moved to the East County area in 1999, he had one main goal.

"I care about my community and I wanted to make sure I wasn't just a user," Fink said. "I wanted to leave it better than I found it."

Last week, Fink left the Lakewood Ranch area as a better place.

He sold his property just off Lorraine Road and moved to Boone, North Carolina, where he plans to spend some time before eventually returning to Florida in the Gainesville or Ocala area with his wife Debbie Nadeau.

"It was just time for a change," he said.

What makes his departure especially painful for the Lakewood Ranch community is that he was an altruistic force throughout his time here.

While Fink worked on several boards, he will be best know for chairing both the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund (now the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation) as well as his work on those two boards.

He spent six years on the LWRBA board and seven years with the LWRCF. His profession is handling investing and tax reduction strategies for the Lifestyle Freedom Group.

"He set the bar extremely high," said Heather Kasten, the former president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance who worked with Fink for several years, including his time as chair. "He was truly salt of the Earth and he had the heart and passion for the LWRBA. He gave us his time and energy, and it is rare when you have someone with no agenda.

"He provided an example of authentic leadership, genuine and sincere. He provide us with tremendous encouragement. I learned from every chair we had, but David was the cream of the crop."

Fink said he will miss the many people he met while working for the various nonprofits, which included the Manatee County Humane Society and the Brain Health Initiative. 

"Collectively, I believe we made a ton of progress," he said.

He enjoyed his work on the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation board, but he feels there is still work to do.

"Looking back, we did make a lot of progress," he said of the LWRCF, but I felt there was not the traction that there should be. I think the LWRCF has a great opportunity over time and will make a great impact. People think Lakewood Ranch has a lot of wealth, and there is, but underneath, there is a lot of need. Yes, everything is new and shiny, but there are needs in the community that are hidden."

He said his favorite moments came with the LWRBA.

"We did a lot of hard work, but I got as much as I gave," he said. "I am going to cherish my time with the alliance the most."

Fink hopes the number of community volunteers continues to increase. 

"My personal perspective is that it is very important to get involved," he said. "But you have to find your passion. You can't get involved just for the sake of getting involved. Then it would seem like work. When you are passionate, you create relationships and you make an impact."

He said not everyone needs to be a board member. His mom, Lakewood Ranch's Carol Fink, volunteers at the All Faith Food Bank.

"There is no pressure for her to be on a board," he said.

He does feel the community is in good hands.

"We have a very philanthropic community," he said. "The area is fantastic. If I had any criticism, it would be that there are too many nonprofits. There is a redundancy and it gets diluted. You have multiple organizations trying to do the same thing and all of them end up having trouble gaining traction."

As he left and area he loves, Fink noted, "I have no regrets."