As the new Chairman of AFI’s Board of Directors, I would like to take a minute to introduce myself and share some of the goals I have for Alliance for Independence.

My wife Barbara and I have lived in Lakeland for the past 17 years, moving here from Ft. Myers. We have three great children, Missy, Paul, and Phil, who are married, and five wonderful grandchildren. We are blessed that they all live in Lakeland and we are able to spend valuable time with them.

For well over 25 years, I have been involved is volunteer work serving on numerous boards, including AFI, Achievement Academy, InRoads of Tampa Bay and the United Way of Central Florida.

Recently I retired from Publix as a Regional Director after almost 45 years of service. It is while working at Publix that the seeds were planted by its founder, George Jenkins, to serve the communities in which we live and work. It is with his encouragement that I, like many others, began a lifetime of giving back to our community.

It has been said that, “to those much has been given, much is expected.” Having been blessed with my faith, a great family and a great employer, I feel it is my responsibility to give back in any way I can. Serving on the Board of AFI is a pleasure, and being voted the chairman is both an honor and very humbling.

As the new chair I have several goals that I would like to achieve during my two years as Chairman. The first is to expand AFI’s board to the maximum, bringing in more dedicated volunteers to directly help AFI, as well as increase its visibility in the community. The second is to raise awareness in the community of the services our clients provide and AFI’s role in helping the most vulnerable in our community. Lastly I would like to launch a capital campaign, raising enough money to build a new and larger facility allowing AFI to expand its services and the number of individuals it serves.

In closing, I would like to thank outgoing Board Chairman John Burton for the hard work and great leadership he provided these past two years. John worked tirelessly to support and promote AFI throughout Polk County and his dedication to AFI and the individuals it serves will never be forgotten.  

May God Bless,

Ron Losch

Chairman

Alliance for Independence, Inc.

Current List of Board Members