What's Good Volusia: The Good News We Don't Hear Enough About

Turn on the news long enough and you can start believing nothing good is happening.

Crime.

Arguments.

Accidents.

Controversy.

Bad news deserves to be reported. People need to know what's happening in their community.

But there's another question I've become interested in:

What else is happening?

Who's helping?

Who's building?

Who's mentoring?

Who's creating?

Who's feeding people?

Who's opening a business?

Who's giving a kid an opportunity?

Who's quietly making Volusia County better without ever becoming the headline?

That's why What's Good Volusia exists.

Good Things Are News Too

I live in the Daytona Beach area.

This is my community.

And one of the things I've learned through hosting Das It is that there are interesting people doing meaningful work all around us.

The problem isn't always that good things aren't happening.

Sometimes we simply aren't telling those stories loudly enough.

What's Good Volusia is my attempt to change that.

Not by pretending problems don't exist.

But by making sure problems aren't the only story we tell about where we live.

Daytona Beach Is More Than What Visitors See

Mention Daytona Beach outside Florida and people immediately think:

The beach.

NASCAR.

Bike Week.

Spring break.

Those things are part of Daytona's identity.

But people actually live here.

Families.

Teachers.

Entrepreneurs.

Artists.

Nonprofit leaders.

Students.

Small-business owners.

Volunteers.

Creators.

People working every day to make their little corner of the community better.

Those are the stories I'm interested in.

What You'll Find in What's Good Volusia

Every week, I want to look for stories across Daytona Beach and surrounding Volusia County communities.

That includes:

Community wins.Programs, improvements and initiatives helping local residents.

People doing good.Residents whose work deserves recognition.

Small businesses.Local entrepreneurs building something interesting.

Youth accomplishments.Because our young people deserve headlines for the right reasons too.

Arts and culture.The creators adding character to our community.

Nonprofits and volunteers.People giving their time to help somebody else.

Opportunities.Programs, resources and events people may not know exist.

And sometimes?

Just something that makes you smile.

That counts too.

This Isn't About Ignoring Reality

Positive news doesn't mean pretending everything is perfect.

It isn't.

Every community has challenges.

But if the only stories we repeatedly tell about a place are its problems, eventually we create a distorted picture of that community.

Good journalism asks:

What's happening?

What's Good Volusia adds:

What's happening that deserves more attention?

I Need Your Help Finding the Good

This isn't something I want to build alone.

If you know someone doing incredible work in Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ormond Beach, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand or elsewhere in Volusia County, tell me.

If your neighbor started something meaningful...tell me.

If a teacher deserves recognition...tell me.

If a teenager is doing something incredible...tell me.

If a local business is helping the community...tell me.

If an organization has quietly changed lives...tell me.

The best community stories often aren't sitting inside press releases.

They're sitting next door.

Let's Change What Gets Amplified

Attention is powerful.

What we repeatedly highlight becomes part of how people understand a place.

So I'm choosing to use some of mine differently.

To find good.

To amplify good.

To introduce you to people worth knowing.

To remind ourselves that even when the headlines feel heavy, there are still people waking up every morning and choosing to make things better.

That's what's good in Volusia.

And I think that's worth reporting too.

Let's Branch.

NOMINATE SOMEONE

Know a person, organization, business or initiative that should be featured?

Submit a What's Good Volusia story to Das Effect Media.

KEEP BRANCHING

By Hadassah “Das” Collier

Founder, Das Effect LLC | Creator of Make Being Yourself Cool Again | Host of Das It & Planted on Purpose