| BELFAST
(Oct 7, 2004): Ken Kimball lives and breathes computers. The Information
Technology Director at Moss, Inc. designs software by day. By night,
he goes home and develops websites and works on an automated voice
system he designed for his house.
He
is, by any account, a busy man. But he manages to fit volunteerism
into his life without thinking much about it. He has offered technical
assistance to the Waldo County Technical Center, sat on committees
responsible for hiring new computer teachers, contributed to the
building renovation committee, helped with strategic planning and
filled in teaching a computer course for a month when a teacher
unexpectedly left WCTC.
Paul Cochrane,
director of WCTC, said Kimball always says yes when the school asks
for help.
"He's soft-spoken
and he thinks before he speaks," said Cochrane. "But when
he does, he really has something to say. He was the one on the hiring
committee that asked the zinger questions for job applicants and
we looked to him to know if the candidates had the right qualifications
for the job."
Currently Kimball
is designing a new website, free of charge, for Maine Businesses
for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit.
Kimball shrugs
it off. He loves computers so he doesn't consider it work. He considers
it fun. As for volunteerism, he credits Moss Inc for providing the
incentive to jump into the community where needed.
"I started
working at Moss when Marilyn Moss was still here," said Kimball.
"I had done a little volunteer work before that. I designed
a website for the Coastal Aids Network when I ran Custom PC, but
I really learned to be charitable through Marilyn."
Marilyn Moss
and Kimball worked together for four years until she retired. Kimball
describes Moss as a person willing to do anything she can to help
humanitarian causes. Kimball said she created an atmosphere of community
service at the company and provided incentives for employees to
volunteer.
"She mentored
a lot of people through example as well as directive," said
Kimball. "Remember the movie "Pay it Forward"? She
encouraged that idea. When someone asks you to help, a lot of people
look for reasons why they can't. Marilyn looked for reasons why
and how she could help. I'd like to think I could be the same way."
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