• #clickbait, am I right? Everyone reading this who has invested in KCYP in one way, shape, or form, is probably questioning themselves based off this one statement: “We give 100%, 80% of the time.”

  Rest assured though! It’s not what you think!

  If you haven’t been keeping up with my entries, let me first introduce myself. My name is Shane Solorza. By day, I’m a Recruitment Marketing Coordinator for Amazon, which means I spend my day running reports and moving data from one column to another. But after hours, I’m the secretary for Kootenai County Young Professionals. I’ve been a member for nearly three years, and I’m finishing up my second year as a board member.

  With that out of the way, let me circle back to explaining this.

  Each year, the KCYP board has the ever-so-daunting task of setting goals. We meet over pizza and hash out these plans so that we know where we are headed for that year. This session can last for a couple of hours until we decide what we’re going to focus on, and then we bring it to a vote. The goal that I want to discuss today is written as follows:

  “80% of events held in 2021 shall include a philanthropic and/or volunteer component”

  Translation: our overall, and frankly, unwritten goal, is to bring our members a positive and enriching experience through everything that we do. We also recognize that there are many other amazing organizations in our area that deserve to be highlighted. So, if we have the opportunity to showcase them, then that’s something we want to do. In many cases, I’ll discuss this goal with our members and I generally get a response along the lines of “that’s an ambitious number.”

  You know what? They’re absolutely right.

  We set our goal high this year, and we did it because we knew with the broad range of groups and even needs, we’d be able to accomplish it while bringing some great causes to our members. We’ve gone so far as to build it into our mission; we want to provide our members with philanthropic opportunities, and what better way to do it than to showcase them at our events. So, what does that 80% actually look like? Here’s a brief and not all-encompassing list of the philanthropic activity we’ve participated in this year:

   - Valentines for Meals on Wheels

•  - Welcome Back’ social benefiting CDAIDE

•  - Speed Networking highlighting ‘Cut Kids Hunger’

•  - Summer Social highlighting PeachxMango Society/Empowerment Closet

•  - Wood Stock Resource Raiser

As I stated, this is just a small bit of the events that we’ve hosted with that philanthropic focus. And yes, there will be more as the year wraps up; because that’s what we love to do.

There’s one distinction that I want to make here before I wrap this up. KCYP is not a “pass through” organization; which means that our primary goal is not to raise money or goods for other organizations in Kootenai County. We exist to bring value to our members through leadership, social interaction, and professional development. Philanthropy and community involvement play just a small part in our overall mission, but it is still important for us to maximize that opportunity when given the chance.

Just one final thought: Everything we do is for our members. If there is an organization out there that you’re particularly passionate about, or you know could benefit from working with us, let us know! Connect with me personally on social media, or reach out to us at Hello@KCYP.info; we really would love to hear from you! 

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Shane Solorza has been a KCYP Member since 2019 and has served on the board since Jan 2020. By day, he is a Recruitment Marketing Coordinator for Amazon.com Workforce Staffing supporting Customer Fulfillment in New York. Strike up a conversation with him talking about your dogs, his dog Aspen, or your favorite coffee shop!