In 1998, I asked Sara where she would like to go for a high
school graduation trip, and the rest of the story is Youthlinc history.
We went to Kenya that summer, connected with people in an
underdeveloped country, and had our eyes opened to the abject poverty that
exists in this world. Because Sara and her high school friends had volunteered
with Salt Lake’s homeless for two years, we made connections between local and
international service. The connection we made was the difference young people
can make if they become relied upon volunteers. That was the seed of Youthlinc
that has grown over the past 13 years to become the Service Year that has
touched so many lives in Utah, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, Cambodia… and
this year, Guatemala.
So I have – we all have -- a lot to thank Sara for. Not only
was she critical to the idea of Youthlinc, she has been critical to its development
as a financially stable, thriving, and eminently accountable non-profit
organization.
If my daughter was not an accounting major in college, when
Youthlinc began, I don’t know who would have done the books for the fledgling
non-profit – and done them for free. If she had not gone on to become a CPA,
and now a financial analyst, I don’t know who would have made sure we did
things exactly the right way, so professionally. Now when we are turning over
our books to an accounting firm, we get accolades for our record keeping system
and financial accountability.
I am an ‘accidental’ non-profit manager. People who start a
non-profit have no idea how much work they are getting themselves into. There
is no question in my mind that Youthlinc would not have survived if Sara was
not somehow fortuitously my daughter – right there—and willing to donate her
time.
Youthlinc started with 20 participants. It’s grown slowly
but steadily. We have more than 220 people participate in our Service Year now.
We’ve added the Young Humanitarian Award, the Utah Local Service Directory, and
the Real Life in SLC teen refugee mentoring program. 
Sara’s life has grown steadily as well. She lives in
Sacramento with her husband, Steve, and two daughters: Ruby who will be five,
and Gwen who is 15 months old. She has a more than full time job as a financial
analyst for Teichert, the largest and oldest commercial construction firm in
northern California. Youthlinc is so close to her heart, but after 12 years as
Treasurer and our accountant, she just can’t do a part-time job in addition to
all of her responsibilities.
It’s a bittersweet parting of our professional lives for me.
I’ve loved working with her. I can’t thank her enough for her patience,
guidance, and incredible effort on behalf of the Organization we created together.
But Youthlinc will always have her gifts to build on, and fortunately there are
so many others now ready to put a shoulder to the wheel.
Sara, thank you, for your inimitable spirit, invaluable expertise,
and herculean efforts that started and sustained the movement that is
Youthlinc. -- Judy Zone, Youthlinc Executive Director and very proud mother.
Oh, your daughter was hardworking and seemed to be very helpful in your organization. Good thing she put her time in it, not only because you're her mother, but also because she was willing to help. I'm glad that she's stable in her new life now. :)
ReplyDeleteDarcy Grubaugh
None of us like errors in the cruicial times, in any software. These errors are not always entertaining but sometimes potentially harmful also. They also can damaged the data inside the file we are operating with. Like QuickBooks error 6000 83 is the example of such error in QuickBooks. So if you are a QuickBooks user and want to get assisted by us, then follow the link and move to your topic of interest in the website.
ReplyDelete