Throughout Palm Beach County, there are many nonprofit organizations working tirelessly to make the world a better place. The generator driving these good deeds to fruition remains firmly in the hands of those working for free — the volunteers.
When one such dedicated individual, Daisy Palmer, passed away, her fellow volunteers with the Loxahatchee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association took it upon themselves to find a way to honor her memory.
“She was passionate about people more than anything,” said Paul Cummings, the group’s treasurer and a longtime friend. “She and my wife [Sherry] were almost like sisters.”
Palm Beach County works closely with the FTA locally, and the memorial bench program that the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation Department has had in place for the past 10 years was a perfect fit.
Finding the right location was not difficult.
“She volunteered at the Okeeheelee Nature Center for quite a while, her and her husband both,” Cummings explained. “She volunteered with the Florida Trail Association at the nature center and at the natural areas.”
A lifetime member of the FTA’s Loxahatchee Chapter, Palmer was known for her cooking, and how no one ever left hungry on her watch.
“She’d prepare lunch for all the people working on the trails, and she’d cook at volunteer appreciation time — but that wasn’t all,” Cummings said. “She volunteered for a lot of things. She would handle a committee or pick up anything that needed to be done. Daisy was probably the best volunteer you could get.”
Palmer did other volunteer work at her church, New Community Church, and at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization’s Buddy Walk.
The FTA held a fundraiser specifically to support the memorial bench to be placed near the Okeeheelee Nature Center. On Dec. 6, 2020, the Loxahatchee Chapter of the FTA held a small, socially distanced gathering to dedicate Palmer’s memorial bench.
For more information about the Florida Trail Association and its mission, visit www.floridatrail.org or check out the local Loxahatchee Chapter at www.loxfltrail.org.
To learn more about the county’s memorial program, visit https://discover.pbcgov.org/parks/General/Memorials.aspx or call (561) 966-6643.
