Ed Sapp: Always Giving Back

Ed Sapp has served on the SDCEA Nominating Committee and the Budget Development Committee, working with others to make important Association decisions such as reviewing the annual budget prepared by the staff for the ensuing year, and nominating candidates for election to the Board of Directors. He has served on HOA Boards before but says SDCEA’s is one of the best he’s seen. “I really enjoy our Budget Development Committee and one of the main reasons is because the people I work with are highly skilled.” Coming from being a Director of Construction for three major retailers for many years, with one having 750 stores built in a year, Ed had to deal with a lot of budgets, workflows and project management skills. “My skill is understanding control and maintenance.”

Ed is our Volunteer of the Quarter, but his volunteer days began decades ago. As a Veteran, Ed and his wife Nancy used to eat at Denny’s every day for free. “Denny’s was a big backer of veterans. So, I would make 250 to 300 chocolate chip cookies, and Nancy would put them into bags and set them at the entrance to Denny’s. They were free, but we would accept donations to help veterans.” One of the organizations he donated to was the Veterans Village of San Diego. Ed says they did this for several years, raising thousands of dollars. However, in 1999, due to legal reasons, Denny’s said they couldn’t participate anymore.

In 2001, Ed and Nancy moved to San Diego Country Estates. And only a few years later, he found himself volunteering again, this time during the 2007 Witch Creek Fire. “I knew there were all these policemen out there, blocking roads and whatnot. So, I made a bunch of sandwiches and took them out to the officers so they could eat.” Ed would take sandwiches to the different shifts, so everyone had the chance to replenish. After several days, he went to do the same thing for the firefighters at the staging areas. “It was a really interesting experience. The first guy I gave food to said he hadn’t eaten in 36 hours.” An unexpected ally during all of this was McDonald's. “They were really great. I could call them on the phone and say I needed 175 hamburgers, and they’d have it ready for me to pick up in 45 minutes.”

Ed often went out from 6 am to 10 pm, bringing people food. “The helicopter pilots wouldn’t take off in the morning until I brought them their breakfast burritos.” Soon, he was shopping at stores and grabbing items beyond food, including toothbrushes, eyedrops and underwear. “I went up to one of the guys and saw his shoelaces were burned. So, I went out and got him some shoelaces.” When Ed wasn’t feeding the police officers, firefighters and pilots, and once the fire was considered contained, he brought food and items to people who had lost everything. “It was a heartbreaking and enlightening experience.”

For the last 40 years, Ed has also been passionate about woodworking. He has donated pieces to the Rotunda, the Police Department and more. Some pieces, which are layered art, can take up to 40 hours. A piece he made for the police department has 21 different layers. “It’s an American Flag with an eagle on it. And each of the layers is 1/8 inch thick.” You can check out some of his work at the Rotunda.

Another item Ed makes is urns, something he took up in 2005 after the death of his son. “When we were looking for an urn, I realized how agonizing it was and how out of line the pricing was. Nancy and I started making urns for families that were (and still are) referred to us. I usually engrave a name, dates, photos and if there are quotes or sayings the deceased was known for or a military background, I also engrave that also. We can’t ever guess how many I have made, but we have never charged a dime for one.”

Thank you so much to Ed Sapp, our Volunteer of the Quarter, and someone who has donated his time and efforts to our SDCE community and to many causes for many years. We appreciate everything you have done and continue to do for everyone around you.