Businesses: Volunteering helps community

Volunteer Jeff Ralph makes sure props are in precisely the right place on stage during a rehearsal at St. Jude Thaddeus School in Havre. Wednesday's rehearsal was in preparation of Ralph's, and the school's production of "The Secret Case of Sherlock Holmes." The play will run Friday and Saturday night at the St. Jude gymnasium.

To honor volunteerism in north-central Montana during National Volunteer Week, every day this week Havre Daily News will be looking at some volunteers and volunteer-run organizations which help sustain our communities and enrich our lives.

The owners of at least one local business feel that the interdependence of people and business is a large part of what makes a community healthy, and they strive to make this symbiotic relationship fruitful.

A little more than six years ago Jeff and Norma Ralph moved their family to Havre from California to buy the Havre McDonald's restaurant. As their business has thrived, they have worked to pay the success forward through volunteerism to help the community.

"The community supports us in our business every day and allows us to be able to do a lot of these different things," Jeff said.

Along with donations of services, items and money, the Ralphs spend time volunteering with schools, youth groups, hockey, the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, baseball, 4-H, Knights of Columbus and various dinners and events.

Like other business owners, the Ralphs said, they help a wide range of causes, activities and people, but have those that are naturally dearer than others, and much of what they focus their efforts on revolves around children.

And with five active children ranging in age from 6 to 15 years old, Norma said, they have gained a lot of first-hand knowledge about the needs of many youth organizations and activities.

"It doesn't really matter what it is, we try to figure out some way to help the children out," Jeff said

Sometimes they can provide all the help needed for a cause, they said, but sometimes the way they make that happen is through networking with other businesses.

"I'm not an electrician, but there's other people that are. I'm not a contractor, but there's other people that are," said Jeff, adding that the business community has "a lot of giving people, and they're trying to help out with what they think is a worthwhile project — it's not really hard to find the help once you start going along.

"A lot of (business owners) really, truly like to give back to the community," Jeff said, "and I've seen that in things that we've gone to … and gone, wow, I didn't know that company did that or this group did that."

One of the things that makes their charitable work in the community satisfying, Jeff and Norma said, is that even when they are working on a large project or donating to an organization, they know people who are making the request or they know people who will benefit.

Unlike where they moved from, here, Norma said, "you see their faces."

This personal touch is what makes giving to individuals or families they know, or who were referred by someone they know, just as important as helping larger causes, they said.

And the personal touch extends to their own employees as well.

After noticing that young people who don't make long-term commitments to jobs, projects and other facets of their lives became adults who don't get ahead because they bounce around a lot, too, the Ralphs decided to implement a plan to help teach their young employees persistence and hard work through incentive.

Teenagers who start work at the restaurant in their freshman year and stay with the job through high school graduation are given a cash award, Norma said. This is in addition to the McDonald's incentive to get good grades that pays all student employees a bonus for getting good grades in school.

This strong desire to see children grow through pushing themselves and having positive experiences drives Jeff in his volunteering, especially in one of his pet projects, the annual St. Jude Thaddeus School play which he produces and directs. He describes his interest in the play as "purely selfish."

"I love it. I love working with kids. I love seeing the smiles on their faces. I love kids doing things that other people say (are) impossible," he said.

The couple hopes that their charitable works will leave a legacy of sorts, they said. They hope that one day in the future, when a child they're helping today is an adult, that person thinks back on a moment when he or she did something wonderful, whether it was a trip, an experience or a learning moment, and remembers that it was the Ralphs who helped make it possible.

"How cool would it be?" Jeff said, then laughed and added that "even if they didn't do anything like that, I still have fun."

They hope to inspire others with their actions.

"You're not just this person that owns this place; you're the person that's involved, that's doing these wonderful things," Norma said, and hoping that those actions motivate others do more, too.

Clearly, though they both feel an obligation to give back to the community and are happy to do so, it's the idea that their volunteerism will perpetuate even more volunteerism that sparks them and is what inspires them to focus on children.

"I believe in kids a lot," Jeff said, "and I think that if we're going to do anything to help a group out — that's going to eventually help everybody else — you gotta spend some time with kids."

"These kids, when they grow up," Norma added, "they can say, when I was young I was able to do all of these things because people volunteered. You're kind of making it possible so when they grow up they will try to do the same."

The St. Jude Thaddeus School play, "The Secret Case of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure Begins," will be in the Havre Central gymnasium Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 each for the play, or $10 for dinner and the play. Dinner will be 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at St. Jude Parish Center. From more information and tickets, call 265-4613.