Uh, my name is Maria Mononttoya and I
work for ALS New Mexico as the man
manager of development and engagement.
I'm Rebecca Cisnertos. I work for the
Boys and Girls Club and I am the
community and government relations director
I think that Albuquerque can get a bad
rap. It's easy to get discouraged about
our city and what's going on. I think
that serving on the board has really
given me a different perspective. I'm
participating in the correction of some
of those issues. I'm participating in
the solution and I'm getting to surround
myself with other people who are also
participating in the solution. There are
so many people doing really beautiful
things here all the time, every single
day, and they're not they're not always
getting awarded for it and they're not
always getting recognized, but when you
come into these boards, you start to
meet them very quickly. I feel the same
way. It's only made me love Albuquerque
Yes. Um, our board specifically looks at
volunteerism in Albuquerque and we focus
on how to make it more accessible to our
our neighborhoods and our communities.
Um, and we work with nonprofits to help
them target the volunteers that they
need. We do community of practice which
is Rebecca and I uh sort of co-host. Um,
and that brings volunteer coordinators
from all over the city together to talk
about the issues that they're facing. I
got to meet Hal recently.
Hal is our 2025 lifetime volunteer
awardy. He volunteers at the nuclear
museum and he is over 100 years. He is
fantastic and meeting him was such an
inspiration to to myself.
Yes, I think Hal is incredible.
Definitely a testament to that. If you
do what you love, you'll never work a
day in your life. And you can see that
all over his face. He's fantastic.
People on the fence. We want them to
jump the fence.
We do want them to jump the fence.
I would just say it is an opportunity to
take a pause once a month for 1 hour and
just hear good news. And it's really
that is profound in especially in our
time that we're living in. And for 60
minutes once a month, you get to come
into a room full of people who are
excited about community and our city and
our state and hear good news. I think
that should be reason enough for you to
come on over. I think if you're on the
fence about any board, if you believe in
the organization's mission, values, if
you have interest in what they do, I
would encourage you to to join their
board. If you are on the fence, jump the
fence. It's a good time. Try it out.