Posted by Faith Ireland on Apr 24, 2019
Please meet Geoff Ball, classification Human & Community Services, nominated by Jacki Lorenz and seconded by Joyce Robertson - thank you both.
 
Jacki describes Geoff Ball, who is the Director of Development for the Millionair Club Charity, as smart, funny and collaborative.  
tMost of us know the Millonair Club as a place to hire the homeless as temporary help.  Its motto is “building lives, one job at a time”.  Geoff Ball says the temporary staffing agency provides 75% of the funds needed. They have contracts with both the football and baseball fields for concession stands and janitorial work.  Geoff leads the philanthropic efforts for the remainder.
 
Geoff is a bi-coastal guy, who grew up in Massachusetts. At Clark University in Worcester, Massachusets, his interest shifted from math and physics, and he received his BA in psychology and sociology.
 
Ask Geoff what was the craziest thing he’s ever done.  Answer?  Leaving an excellent job at the YMCA in Connecticut to drive with his brother to Seattle.  Here, he married his wife, Theresa, whom he met in second grade on Bainbridge Island.  That is, she was the second-grade teacher for his daughter.  They were married on Christmas Eve fifteen years ago by Santa, with their collective five kids looking on. 
 
In Washington, Geoff was privileged to run the YMCA’s Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. He was recruited back to Boston by the YMCA to run camps in the Northeast.  After three years, missing Bainbridge, the family moved back here. 
 
What’s the secret to asking people for money for charity?  Geoff Ball says you have to tap into people’s values, matching the values to the cause, whether that is the environment, education, homelessness, or youth development.  But what if the answer is “no”?  Geoff says, “then you pivot.”  “No” may mean not now, or not this project, but perhaps another.
 
Among Geoff’s values, family comes first. Theresa and Geoff have raised five kids, now ages 18-25.  They try to observe the “no more than three kids in college at once” rule.  Geoff’s value of helping others be all they can be is well-met at the Millionair Club.  He has personal relationships with their workers.  In addition, they feed anyone who comes breakfast and lunch, amounting to over 100,000 meals a year.  Geoff has a secret he keeps under wraps at the club: in his past, he has been a professional baker.
 
Please joint President Cindy in welcoming Geoff Ball.
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