One trades analyzing numbers for riding bikes. Another puts down a gavel and picks up a
hockey stick. Yet another takes off a tie to wear a uniform.
Across the country, state legislators and legislative staff -- with little fanfare -- extend
their public service commitment beyond normal business hours in an effort to make their
communities and states better places to live. They attend everything from auctions to
potluck suppers and sometimes even get a physical workout to help state and community
causes.
Like all Americans who devote time, energy and money to their favorite organizations,
the charity work of those involved with state legislatures often is done behind the scenes
and with little public notice. Here are a few examples that reached our desks.
Personally Involved
How does a 55-year-old breast cancer survivor get on with her life after two mastectomies
in six years? If she is Mary Noble, deputy state auditor of California and chair of the
National Legislative Program Evaluation Society, she rides her bicycle hundreds of miles
across central Alaska to raise funds to help others who are battling the disease.
This year, Noble will join 19 other women, most of whom are themselves breast cancer
survivors, on a six-day, 350-mile bike ride sponsored by the San Francisco-based Breast
Cancer Fund. The riders will start near Mount McKinley, proceed through Fairbanks to
the port of Valdez and finish, after a ferry transit, in the city of Anchorage. Noble plans
to carry the names of breast cancer survivors, as well as the names of some who have died
from the disease, with her on her journey.
Although her prognosis for complete recovery is good, she says, "You have to live with
[breast cancer] and hope for the best."
Pledges for her Alaska ride far exceeded her initial goal. "Never in my wildest dreams
did I think this could happen," she says, citing donations from friends and co-workers, as
well as "people I had never heard of" from as far away as New York.
Another outlet for Noble includes taking part in triathlons (three-segment distance/speed
competitions involving swimming, biking and running), an activity she began five years
ago. In fact, only a week after she returns from Alaska she will participate in a triathlon
in San Jose, California, part of a national series that benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation.
Chasing Childhood Idols
A charity hockey game featuring a team of current and former legislators and legislative
staff called the "State Capitol Sticks" against alumni from the professional National
Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings was arranged by Michigan House of Representatives
Speaker Curtis Hertel, the Red Wings owners and the Hospice of Michigan. The
match-up resulted in a $10,000 donation for the nonprofit organization that provides care
to people living with a terminal illness.
Members of the Sticks donated money for the right to play against such Red Wing alumni
greats as Gary Bergman, Alex Delvecchio and Dennis Hextall. The rest of the funds
came from fans attending the sometimes competitive but always entertaining 15-13 Red
Wings' victory.
"It was truly an honor to play for charity and in a game we love," says Speaker Hertel,
"especially against a team of great Red Wing alumni."
The Sticks have been raising money in charity hockey games since 1994.
Competition for a Good Cause
Missouri, like many other states, puts together charitable events to give lawmakers and
staff an opportunity to compete and socialize outside the legislative arena. A baseball
tournament, basketball games, bowling contests and even a skeet shoot take place
annually to raise money for various charities. The baseball tournament this year donated
its proceeds to the Emily Stoll Scholarship Fund, named for Representative Steve Stoll's
daughter, who died in a car accident in 1997.
House of Representatives Appropriations Director Stephen Price and his staff coordinate
an annual volleyball tournament that's earned about $4,000 for cystic fibrosis research
over the years. Part of the tournament ceremony includes presenting T-shirts to children
the organization works to help. Some of the children recognized at the earlier
tournaments have been lost to the disease.
"The human aspect of it really hits close to home," says Price. "All of a sudden some of
those kids are not here anymore."
Price serves on local charity boards, including Score Against Hunger. The program, in
which donations are based on how many points the University of Missouri-Columbia
football team scores, raises funds for the Central Missouri Food Bank.
Other legislative sporting events, like golf tournaments, are held to raise funds. House
Speaker Steve Gaw oversees the Hall of Famous Missourians, a capitol display of notable
state residents throughout history. His tournament raises money to commission new
bronze busts. Gaw and other lawmakers also participate in a program promoting literacy
in their legislative districts.
"Not only is it important for young children to have an interest in reading, the sessions
allow me to hear from those children," he says. "They seem not to have a problem saying
what they think about anything. And when you read through a story, particularly one that
has a message, they have some great insight."
Responding to Tragedy
In Maine, the unrelated and unexpected deaths of Representative Stephen Gould and page
David Michaud resulted in what is now called the Legislative Memorial Scholarship
Fund. Auctions held since 1981 raise funds for the scholarships, which initially were
available at only two state university sites.
The legislature formed a scholarship committee in 1995 to oversee the fund, which now
awards scholarships to state residents attending any accredited college or university.
Sixteen $500 scholarships, one for each county, are presented each year. The 1998
fund-raising auction raised more than $7,000.
Oklahoma Representative Mike Mass last April co-hosted a fund raiser for an infant
known as "Baby K," who survived a shooting that killed her mother and her mother's
boyfriend. The event generated $10,000 for an educational trust fund for the child.
Since then, Mass has teamed up with Judy Benson, wife of House Speaker Lloyd Benson,
to sponsor events raising tens of thousands of dollars for the Oklahoma Campaign for
Kids. The proceeds are earmarked for prevention of child abuse and support services for
abused and neglected children.
The Bensons also host the annual Speaker's Ball in Oklahoma, which has raised more
than $360,000 for the Foundation for Excellence during the last nine years. So far the
fund raiser has endowed an annual award to the Oklahoma school deemed to have the
best dropout prevention program. Funds are now being raised to endow an annual award
for an elementary school teacher.
Duty to Country
Mike Coffman, now a Colorado senator, celebrated his reelection as a second-term
member of the Colorado House of Representatives in 1990 on the sands of Kuwait. As a
member of the Marine Corps Reserves when the Gulf War broke out, he went from a
policymaking role to an executive role. "Both are equivalent of combat," he says.
Several lawmakers from across the country are also members of the National Guard.
John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association, says the National Guard is
full of "people who care about their communities, states and nation. And you're going to
see a lot of these same folks working in the public sector. It's extremely natural for
people who devote their life to public service to be in the Guard."
Learning in the Legislature
"When I began my first session, I realized that no one was lobbying for the children and
no one was lobbying for the victims," says Texas Senator Florence Shapiro. "I realized
that a lot more needed to be done that couldn't be done in the legislature."
Once a week she goes to a school in Plano, where she served as mayor before being
elected to the senate, to mentor a child. The 90-minute sessions focus on reading,
spelling and talking about life experiences.
Shapiro, who has three grown children, began donating her time to organizations such as
the Collin County Advocacy Center, which helps abused and neglected children, and a
domestic violence center called the Family Place. She and one of her daughters volunteer
two Saturdays a month at the Children's Medical Center in Dallas.
The Texas senator's advertising agency often performs pro bono work for these
organizations, such as printing brochures and writing press releases.
"So often groups like this need spokespersons and to have someone become an advocate,"
she says.
Answering the Call
For every story told here, there are hundreds of other examples of legislators and
legislative staff who unselfishly donate their time, money and effort to their communities.
"Everybody owes a duty back to the rest of humankind to repay some of the things that
were given," says Missouri Speaker Gaw. "I think public service and giving back to your
state and country is something that is important if it is to be a better place for everyone,
including the one who is giving of their time and effort."
By serving in the legislature, he says, "you see the great things that are going on and
things that need improvement. Serving in the legislature puts you one step closer to
understanding and being able to do something about it."
Colorado Senator Coffman agrees, "You're used to making sacrifices by being a
legislator," he says. "I think the type of person attracted to public service in the
legislature is the type of person willing to serve in a number of capacities, whether it be
their community, state or nation."
__________
Gene Rose is public affairs director of the National Conference of
State Legislatures. Staff member Scott Liddell and various state legislative public
information officers contributed to this article, which was abridged and reprinted from
the July-August 1998 issue of State Legislatures.
