For more than 35 years now, I've led a double life. My military and defense-contracting careers have kept food on the family table and a roof over our heads. But it is my lifelong commitment to voluntary community service that has truly kept me alive.
An "ideal" job would provide extensive opportunities to use my diverse talents and numerous personal contacts for strengthening communities, whether it's on a local, regional, national, or international basis.
After seeing one such position advertised recently, I started reminiscing about what I've done for others. When I ran for the local school Board in 2001, here's how I summarized my community service then:
"I have a long history of voluntary public service, from Vietnamese refugee resettlement (1970's) to suicide prevention (1980's) to writing and editing columns for a national magazine (1990's) to community food programs (2000's). My motivation is the betterment of our society, not personal gain or ego needs."
Since then I've continued to be a staunch supporter of our schools and efforts to strengthen them, actively participating in a variety of groups, forums, and programs. Here's a short list to elaborate on some of my community service involvement (not in a particular order, and certainly not all-inclusive):
NW New Mexico Regional Science & Engineering Fair: If memory serves correctly, 2006 will be my fifth year (in six) that I've judged student science fair projects at the University of New Mexico.
United Way: Last year, I took the initiative to establish the first United Way (UW) campaign at my company's local office. Employees at Mission Research, which had been acquired in 2004, had never had an opportunity to support UW through payroll deductions. I created a publicity flyer that was distributed nationwide, then organized a local kickoff event for the campaign. (Back in 1979, I was a coordinator for the Combined Federal Campaign at a remote military location in Nevada.)
SHARE Colorado: Once a month I work at Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church to distribute food packages to participating families. SHARE is a cooperative food buying program operated by the Catholic Charities of the Denver Archdiocese. If memory serves correct, I've been doing this for six or seven years by now.
ATK Foundation: Recently, I served on a steering group to identify and select local organizations to receive foundation funding, and to encourage additional employee support through the matching gift program.
Albuquerque Youth Symphony (AYS): My sons Paul (cello) and Aron (violin) have had the honor of participating for several years now. Last year, my wife (Jill) and I were elected as co-presidents of the parents association, assuming overall responsibility for fund-raising (nearly $300,000) for the upcoming AYS 50th Anniversary Concert Tour to marvelous Brazil. As part of this, we oversaw the 2005 AYS Luminaria Drive, which built and delivered almost 156,000 (13,000 dozen) luminarias to more than 2400 supporters in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. We also serve as ex officio members of the AYS Program Board.
New Mexico Internet Professionals Association (NMIPA): I have been an active member nearly since its inception ten years ago. NMIPA provides support for educational programs, government affairs and public advocacy, Internet trade fairs, and web assistance to small businesses. NMIPA was a major contributor to the very successful web-based communication and information services during the 2000 Cerro Grande fire in Los Alamos, NM. I've served in various capacities as needed, primarily as the "on-again-off-again" membership chair. In 1998, I spent many days (on short notice) at the New Mexico State Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission to observe and testify on telecommunications deregulation.
New Mexico Mediation Association (NMMA): Somewhere back in the late 1990's, I served for a year or so on the NMMA Board of Directors. At that point, I had done mediation in Metropolitan Court, City of Albuquerque programs ("barking neighbor" complaints, parent-teen conflicts, and land development issues), and private practice (where I helped resolve family conflicts, divorces, and employment disputes). At several times, I helped train new mediators in both city and university programs. Some high points of my brief "career" include the accolades from a Torrance County judge and the Albuquerque City Council for my work. However, the most touching incident was when a mediator told me that, several years earlier, I'd been his inspiration for pursuing mediation as a profession.
University of Utah HELP Line: I "stumbled" into this five-year passion purely by accident while I was an Air Force engineering student at U of Utah. I quickly found I had an intuitive sense of how to handle crisis situations and was extraordinarily cool under pressure, and eventually I served more than two years as its training director. Not only was I acknowledged as one of their best trainers, I also (quite literally) "wrote the book" on training potential staff members, creating a concise training handbook and handy reference for everyone. For a long time, I handled more suicide calls than any other staff member. On one particular night, I "talked down" a despondent, off-duty police dispatcher who had her service revolver in hand, ready to kill herself. To me, it was just another long night "on call", but a week later the clinical director said I'd received an anonymous thank you letter (which I cherish to this day) for my extraordinary calmness. More than a year later, shortly before I left Salt Lake City, she called to thank me once again for helping turn her life around. Recalling that incident still brings tears to my eyes today, twenty years later.
There's more, but that will have to wait for another day.
Mike Kruchoski
Posted by ergo at March 6, 2006 12:59 PM