GARY DAVIDSON

Since the age of 13, Gary Davidson has been a beacon of hope to his community. He spoke out to support the City of New York in the 1970’s when they were considering declaring bankruptcy by writing editorials to his newspaper reminding them of the spirit of community in the Declaration of Independence. In 1976, Davidson,14, was an active representative for the Boy Scouts of America Troop 515 and spoke to the Deerfield Beach, Florida Chamber of Commerce to encourage the City to stop development of a condominium site and retain it as a public park. As an adult, Davidson continues to serve his community with zeal.

Gary Davidson joined the Jupiter, Florida Police Department as a road patrol officer in 1987 to continue his love of serving his community. While active in the department, he delivered several training sessions for the public in how to properly respond to violent crimes, beach and pool safety lectures, and other crime prevention seminars. In 1992, he responded to a home fire. The residents were hysterical, so he entered the home with a small fire extinguisher and began to fight the fire without any other equipment. When the extinguisher was empty, he returned with another extinguisher and was credited with saving lives as well as the home. That fire became hot enough to melt the metal air conditioner vents in the home.

Davidson was also an educational leader for five years. He led lectures on sea turtles in Jupiter, Florida. He prepared a 90-minute lecture series with musical accompaniment. They were delivered three times a week from May until August. The mission of the series was to educate the public of the sea turtles endangered species status, the time of year they lay eggs, and that they should not be disturbed. The lectures were such a success that people from different countries returned annually for them and even brought their children and grandchildren for the series. He also assisted in the rescue of a baby manatee in 1994. He carried the manatee to safety, and the manatee was ported to the Miami Seaquarium.

Davidson moved to Texas and worked with the Parrot Preservation Society. He donated his Web site design services to them. The services of the society received a tremendous amount of publicity because of Davidson’s assistance and over 100,000 hits during his service. In addition to that, he performed all the French Translations for the multi-lingual site and coordinated free consultation services with bird owners around the world who were experiencing health problems with their parrots.

Davidson has done numerous other acts of service. He is very excited about his work to support a new zoological park. In 1999, he amassed community support from the Austin area for this center that will be a place for hands-on learning experiences in the sciences. The center will also be for research in animal behavior in emotion. He has solicited donations from various organizations to realize this dream.