You: You make a difference, 07/26/99

By Doug Barney
Network World, 7/26/99

Next time you're watching a wrenching video clip of search dogs sniffing through twisted steel and crumbled cement, perhaps you can take heart that one of your own has helped get the rescue animals to the scene.

Help a local group: Volunteer your skills

Sandra Kay Miller, remote access specialist for Elixir Technologies, is the resident computer guru for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. In her volunteer capacity, she has been called upon to set up the office, create a Web site and publish manuals for the foundation, founded four years by an acquaintance of Miller's in the wake of the horrific bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

And Miller gives more to the foundation than her technical mind. The 34-year-old spends four to seven hours per week writing articles for the Ojai, Calif., group.

What's more, she is raising a Labrador that will be trained for rescue work - a task that is not as easy as it sounds. "Disaster search dogs are encouraged to bark and dig - need I say more?" Miller says.

While critical, the computer work Miller has done for the foundation has been child's play compared with some of the tasks she's undertaken in various jobs. For example, she's built networks for offshore oil rigs and set up a virtual private network for a major outdoor clothing manufacturer.

Miller says the knowledge she's picked up on such jobs has been an asset for the foundation, but she emphasizes that the volunteer work has enhanced her technology skills, too. Had she not needed to establish the foundation's online presence, for example, Miller would not have picked up the Web development skills invaluable in today's workplace.

Miller is far from the only Network World reader who devotes time to volunteering. In fact, almost 20% of the 448 of you who responded to the volunteer question on our first You survey say you give between one and four hours of your time per week.

Jack of all trades

Julio Edwards, an assistant to the IS manager at the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) in Denver, falls into that group. He's involved in six charitable organizations, in most cases lending Internet or video skills.

If there is a theme to Edwards' volunteer efforts, it seems to be bringing meaning to people's lives. His latest project is building a Web site for Anam Chara (Gaelic for "soul friend") Homes, an organization that builds Victorian-style group homes for senior citizens in Colorado. "Residents pass away in their home surrounded by loved ones rather than in an austere hospital setting," he says.

The 46-year-old Edwards has long been a volunteer, but his giving has changed over the years. "In the past, I volunteered mostly my unskilled labor, whereas now I try to focus on what I can technically bring," he says.

Like Miller, Edwards believes his volunteer work has helped on the paid side. For example, Edwards learned Web development to build a site for his community television series, "Spiritual Spectrum," and has built a Web site for a spiritual group called The Beauty, Truth & Goodness Foundation. Now Edwards designs, maintains, enhances and supports DORA's Internet and intranet sites, as well as researches new technologies for the agency's use.

In the end, Edwards gets just as much as he gives: "Computer nerds like me can get caught up in the technology and tend to be loners. Volunteer work brings out the extrovert in me. It is such a good feeling to be helping people."

I'd like to teach the world to browse

For another of you, volunteer work brought out more than just a personality trait - it actually turned you on to networking.

Linda McGinnis, a manager at World Bank, got into networking in 1997 when she helped found a nonprofit organization that connects schools in less developed countries to the Internet and each other.

By 2000, the World Links for Development (WorLD) organization hopes to bring networking to more than 1,200 secondary schools in 40 countries and, in the process, provide distance learning and expose students to other cultures. The group is working in 14 countries.

While McGinnis, co-manager of WorLD, didn't come from a technology background, she does have some strong opinions on the subject. "Information technology is a double-edged sword that can either drive rich and poor countries further apart or be the great equalizer that can enable developing countries to leapfrog into a more-level playing field of education and opportunity," she says.

Passion such as this is what turns net professionals into people who make a difference.