While working for a division of Rockwell International, I was asked to volunteer for an organization called Joint Action in Community Service that reaches out to people who have left Job Corps to help them find work or further their education. I put together a small group to do it. But we found that we had to do our volunteer work during working hours, because that’s when most businesses are open. Volunteer time was charged to personal time off.
I took a chance and asked for a meeting with Willard Rockwell, our president and CEO, who was also on the board of JACS. I had an idea that we could get a letter authorizing us to charge our time to “company sponsored activities.” We wanted to explain what we were doing. What a wild idea.
It probably wasn’t a miracle, but it was a big surprise when the meeting with Mr. Rockwell got scheduled. I called all the volunteers. We arrived and were shown into a conference room. But then we were told that Mr. Rockwell was too busy to see us.
So we explained our situation to a corporate vice president, who told us who he would get to take care of it. We left with a feeling of accomplishment and hope. We went back to work and charged our meeting time to “personal business.”
After many weeks of waiting and some followup phone calls, it was apparent that nothing was happening. Mr. Rockwell’s secretary, who was becoming one of my favorite people, was sympathetic and arranged another meeting. This time, I did not get the other volunteers involved, in case I was shunted off to some other corporate person again.
Again I drove to corporate headquarters and went up to Mr. Rockwell’s office. This time his secretary showed me into his office, where I had a one-on-one chat with the president and CEO of Rockwell International. This was an awesome big deal for me, a mere member of the technical staff. He made me feel at ease as I explained the volunteer program and what we were wanting and why. He told me who would be taking care of this, and I had more reason to hope.
In a few days, the right person called and asked what exactly I would like the letter to say. He even suggested that I write the letter and send it to him for review. I did this, and shortly after, the letter went out with only a minor wording change.
This encouraged the JACS volunteers to be more active, and due partly to this, our group won the West Coast yearly award for achievement twice during the decade I was associated with JACS. The first time, I won a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the national JACS award ceremony. That included dinner and a photo with the U.S. secretary of Labor.
Whatever it was that gave me the idea and courage to make that first phone call, I am thankful for it.
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