If you want a better community, you’ve got to get up off the sofa and help build a better community.

That’s the message the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Bea Forniss delivered at Thursday night’s Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce banquet.

“Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give,” she said. “

“If we’re gonna change things, we’ve gotta be the change. If you want different, you’ve got to be the different.

“I’m looking at you and you’re looking at me,” she said. “What are you waiting on to get busy?

“You’ve got to get up off your sofa and go do something. Start doing it tomorrow. Don’t wait for anybody else to call you; get up and do it tomorrow.”

Forniss asked all in the audience who had volunteered in Andalusia to stand.

“Did you see all those people standing up?” she later asked. “They are tired and they’re half crazy. And they don’t get any thank-you cards. But I thank you, for getting up, reaching out, and just doing what you do.”

When you serve others, she said, “It makes you feel fantastic.”

“If you want Andalusia to be the place you want it to be, get off your sofas; get off your couches, and make it happen.

“Sometimes it takes running for office; sometimes it just takes a little bit more. I want you to give a little bit more. I don’t want you to complain, just be about your business and be happy,” she said.

Forniss is retiring from ADECA today, and will become a marketing ambassador for Goodwyn Mills and Cawood.