Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Usually parents guide their children toward volunteer work. For Linda Gove, it was the other way around.
Her two children were required
to do service projects as part of a program at Boca Raton
Christian School called Serve-a-thon. Gove ended up getting
involved in her children's project and discovered a passion for
helping others.
"I volunteered in the food center for Boca Helping Hands," Gove said. She found her experience so enjoyable that when the executive director position opened, she applied.
Gove is now the new executive director of the organization, a not-for-profit dedicated to solving hunger and other crises in the Boca Raton area. The organization was formed by a group of local religious leaders in 1998.
Gove, 42, replaces Joanne Szaja, who ran the organization from 2001 until last year.
"Everyone keeps on telling me I have some big shoes to fill, and it's true," Gove said. "(Szaja) really built the organization."
But Gove said she's excited about the challenge. She described her job responsibilities as being a little bit of everything.
"Basically, I try to keep it all together," Gove said. "And I make sure to keep the lines of communication open, no matter what."
Originally from Michigan, Gove has lived in Boca Raton since 1985, when she enrolled in Florida Atlantic University. She earned a bachelor of science in computer information systems with a minor in business.
Gove worked in advertising and marketing from the time she graduated college until she moved to Boca Helping Hands. She focused on marketing high-tech software at companies such as the Boca Raton-based Siemens Networks LLC.
"Boca Helping Hands is really in need of community awareness, so I'm using my past job skills to market the organization," she said.
That was her day job. At night, she was a dance teacher at the Carol Colbert School of Dance in western Boca Raton, a job she began at age 22 and gave up only last year. She taught many types of dance, including tap, ballet and jazz.
"I've been dancing since I was 3," Gove said. "I just really love the kids."
She has two kids of her own, a 14-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, and two stepdaughters who are 22 and 16.
"I enjoy going to my daughter's soccer games and doing typical mom things," Gove said. "I always try to make sure my family sits down together for dinner."
Under Gove's leadership, Boca Helping Hands, which is on Northwest 16th Street, is focused on finding a new location and raising money to build a larger facility for its offices and other operations. "We have to keep the location where the people are, where the need is," Gove said, referring to pockets of low-income residents in Boca Raton.
Gove said she has been finding it difficult to raise money without a site for the new building. "A lot of people hesitate to donate because we don't have a new location, something tangible," she said. "They don't want their money just sitting around."
Boca Helping Hands recently launched its first-ever capital campaign, with a goal of raising $1.5 million for a new facility. The first fund-raiser was a Monopoly tournament and dinner at the Boca Marriott, which raised more than $120,000. Gove said she wants to have monthly fund-raisers, which is why the organization recently hired a full-time events coordinator.
"At some point we'll be doing a fashion show," she said.
The organization has 200 regular volunteers, but she said she would like the volunteers and board members help the organization get more "feet on the street." .
"It's contagious," Gove said. "Friends hear about friends volunteering, and then they want to get involved."
What is your favorite movie?
"I'm a sci-fi fanatic, so it has to be The Matrix trilogy."
Who is your hero?
Carol Colbert, owner of the Carol Colbert School of Dance in western Boca Raton. "She has taught me so much in the 20 years that I've known her."
What is your most memorable moment?
"The birth of my children."