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Community Corner

Andee Jorgensen Proves the More You Volunteer, the Better You Feel.

Jorgensen gets as much as she gives during volunteer work.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” -Albert Schweitzer

Andee Jorgensen thought her destiny was to be a protocol attaché for the U.S. Foreign Service Department.  She was born in Seattle and grew up in the Renton Highlands. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Washington, she hoped to land a job that would send her oversees.  Instead, she landed a job at Pacific Northwest Bell, the same place her father and mother worked. She thought the job was only temporary. Instead, she stayed 27 years. 

It seems Jorgensen’s destiny lay elsewhere. 

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But, if what Albert Schweitzer said is true, Jorgensen was destined to be a very happy woman.  That’s because she’s spent a lifetime volunteering, beginning as a child making May baskets with her mother and delivering them to neighbors. She went on to become a Girl Scout, a junior swim instructor and a volunteer with the YWCA. In college, she took tickets and waited tables for a student cabaret. 

When Jorgensen went to work at the phone company, she also joined their community relations team, part of the company’s ‘corporate citizenship’ program, helping with teddy bear and book drives. Around this time, she learned that Renton Area Youth & Family Services needed an intake volunteer, so she volunteered one night a week. Then, she joined their board, became the Chair and served for eight years.

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When Jorgensen learned about Washington Business Week, a week-long summer program that helps high school students experience real world business practices, she signed up.  Jorgensen donated one week a year, for 10 years, to help shepherd students through the week-long program, eventually earning the title of President for the week.

“That was my biggest challenge,” she says.  “I had to go in front of 300 kids, twice a day, every day.  Now, I have no problem getting up in front of any group.”

No surprise, Jorgensen joined the Renton Chamber of Commerce Board.  There, she met Bob Roberts, President of , who recruited her to become a college trustee, a role she would play for 12 years.  When she finally stepped down, she was asked to join the foundation board instead, but she declined.

“I told them I needed a year off,” she says with a smile.    

A year later, she joined the RTC Foundation board and will take over as President this summer.

In the 1990’s, Jorgensen’s love of travel motivated her to join the organizing committee for Renton’s Sister Cities Committee for Cuautla, Mexico. Over the years, she has held several fundraisers for the group in her home. Around this same time, she joined Renton Rotary, helping with a variety of Rotary projects, including the C.A.P.E.R. auction, the dictionary project, and Operation Warm.  Currently, she serves as board secretary, a position she’s held for ten years.

Jorgensen joined the Allied Arts Board three years ago and has chaired their Artwalk committee for two years.  In her spare time (she estimates she volunteers between 10-15 hours a week!) Jorgensen helps  publicize their new Luther’s Table Restaurant, located in the Compass Veteran’s Center downtown. 

So, why does Jorgensen devote so much time to her community?

“Because it’s boring as Hell to be inwardly focused,” she states.  “If you’re outwardly focused, you don’t dwell on your own problems.  You become grateful for everything.”

Proving Albert Schweitzer was right.

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