Fowl River. “Growing up on the Bay set the course for my life,” John says. “I enjoyed the peace and quiet of living on the water and have many memories of fishing, crabbing, and waterskiing as a kid. My friend Angelo Depaola and I were neighbors, and I don’t think there was another kid or family for five miles. We learned to keep ourselves busy,” John recalls. Married for eight years, the couple initially met via an introduction by Shelly’s father, John Freeman. With three busy boys, John describes their family as you’d expect. “A typical traveling-for-work husband, a full-time mom, three boys, and a honkey tonk – life is hectic and fast paced,” he jokes. Although originally from Birmingham, Shelly is thrilled to raise her children in Orange Beach and shares, “We love the safety and beauty of our area. It’s country living at the beach and hard to imagine a better place to live and raise a family. We enjoy going to Mobile and Fairhope to visit friends and show the boys where dad grew up,” she says. With an older brother (John), and an identical twin sister (Jennifer), Shelly is more than a mom. “My family is everything to me,” she says. “We are blessed with wonderful parents who have been married for 42 years and I can’t imagine my life without my sister. We even had the opportunity to be spokespersons for WB21 in Birmingham for more than 10 years and continue to do advertising for 10 to 15 different car dealers across the U.S.,” she shares. Spending much of her time on various sports fields, Shelly describes her children as extremely sweet, but also very competitive and independent-minded. However, at the center of this family there is a deep connection to God and their faith. And while they all enjoy hunting, boating, Alabama football games, and taking family trips, John and Shelly’s ultimate hope for their children is simple. “We want them to live long, healthy, happy lives,” John says. “While we hope they have great opportunities due to our family businesses, we don’t want that to dictate what they do with their lives. Our wish is for them to live the life God designed and we fully expect them to strive to be the best at whatever field they choose to enter. It’s fine to be outsmarted, but they better never get outworked!” John jokes. With varied prosperous businesses, the family’s overall lack of pretentiousness is admirable. And clearly (from the gala we just attended), charity begins at home for the McInnis family. “I believe we can change the world if everyone focuses on their communities to fix common problems,” John says. “Imagine several hundred people in one community focused on feeding and clothing people, fighting addiction, helping the abused and elderly, and sharing God’s love.” And, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. “Two of our favorite charities are Youth-Reach Gulf Coast and Operation Reconnect,” John says. “Based in Summerdale, Youth-Reach is a Christian program where we turn around troubled young men, ages 18 to 28 ACCESS Magazine / December 2019
21, on the wrong path. It is an all-expenses paid one-year program and, together with its sister program in Houston, we’ve transformed several thousand young men from inmates or prison-bound to leaders and great fathers in our community,” he says. And it’s thanks to the program’s many area donors that it is able to afford such life-altering assistance to so many. “We have tried to figure out a way to fund Youth-Reach without the normal suffering a charity goes through to stay afloat,” John explains. “Like all charities, they spent half their time worrying about money and the other half taking care of the boys. We decided to throw one huge annual party to try and raise enough funds in one night to last them all year. This year we raised close to $300K, which was way beyond our expectations. Once the program is fully funded through this annual gala, we will donate the balance of funds to other local charities. We hope that is next year! Plus, the Roaring 20s ‘Great Gatsby’ theme was so much fun,” John shares. Based out of Orange Beach, Operation Reconnect’s mission is simple. “We try to get people to donate their condos and resources to active duty men and women who are returning from deployment so they can spend time with their kids and spouses to reconnect physically and emotionally,” John says, adding that each year they also raffle off a jeep and raise close to $200K at the Flora-Bama for this cause. On the disaster side, the McInnis family has also made their mark. “I have been blessed to have been a large part of the response to many disasters like Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Michael, Irma, and Maria, as well as the BP Oil Spill,” John says. “People lose everything after a major disaster and it’s a blessing to be with them in their time of need. Recently, as the director of Kenny Chesney’s Love for Love City Foundation, we were able to supply the islands with emergency supplies and evacuate more than 2,000 people and 2,000 animals, and even placed the animals in loving homes in the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria and Irma,” he adds. With the philosophy that there is no greater gift than giving, when it comes to the holidays, John shares, “We are simple! We stay home and do nothing. When we aren’t home, we’re in the woods.” As for that stunning home? “It’s the first new home my family has built in a few generations,” John shares. “Shelly and I bought the property after we got married and then designed what we are blessed to call our dream home. It’s coastal living meets Southern living. What makes it special is Shelly’s father – a homebuilder – built the home for his daughter. Because of him, everything is perfect,” John says. For Shelly, Christmas is a big deal. “We try to make it as magical as possible,” she says. “My parents did that for me and I have such wonderful memories. We love to decorate the tree as a family, listen to Christmas music, and sip on hot chocolate! The boys love to decorate gingerbread houses and bake Jesus a ‘Happy Birthday cake.’” On Christmas Eve, Shelly says the family enjoys a big