It’s been said no one can whistle a symphony—that it takes a whole orchestra.
The cast of helpers, heroes and brave souls featured in “A Performance to Remember”—the Alzheimer’s story of healing and hope in this month’s magazine—is testament to that and to the power of community.
—Steve Moore, Executive Director, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
This sensitive storytelling is just the beginning of a yearlong focus on community volunteers and change agents, a series we’re calling, “Heroes Among Us: Everyday Helpers Make a Difference.”
It is the second year we’re wrapping magazine coverage around an important theme that hits close to home.
What may be less obvious is the powerful partnership behind the storytelling.
A year ago, Pioneer Utility Resources, publisher of Ruralite and Currents, took a dive into foundation-supported journalism. We joined with the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a private Vancouver, Washington-based foundation heavily invested in seeing rural communities thrive, to produce a yearlong series called, “The Changing Face of Rural Health Care.”
Support from Murdock helped underwrite the cost of writing, travel and video. Pioneer made a huge investment of staff time and resources to cover a lot of ground. We traveled from the Arctic Circle in Alaska, where health care is delivered in the most personal of ways, to a community in Nevada, where a volunteer effort involving hundreds leads to free health care for those most in need, and zeroed in on the opioid epidemic shadowing our region.
—Michael Shepard, CEO, Pioneer Utility Resources
The only request from Murdock? Serve the greater good.
The Murdock and Pioneer partnership began with shared values, shared geography and a shared vision to shine a light where good can result.
The mission of the Murdock Trust is to serve the diverse needs of the Pacific Northwest by investing in the capacity of organizations large and small to enrich life, build community and serve the common good. For more information about the Murdock Trust, go to Murdocktrust.org.
The first year of the Pioneer-Murdock partnership focused on public service journalism. This year’s focus is on public inspiration journalism as we explore the unsung heroes who make their communities better.
Our mutual hope is to tell the stories of difference-makers across the Northwest and West, and to encourage you, our readers, to jump in and make your own difference. We’re asking readers to tell us about adult and kid heroes in their lives, some of whom we plan to recognize.
Together, we can orchestrate something truly special.
Nominate Your Volunteer Hero
Our 2020 vision is this: to identify a youth hero and an adult hero among our Ruralite and Currents audience.
We will take nominations throughout the year, then profile winners.
But there is more.
The adult selected will receive a $500 gift card and $500 for the charity of their choice.
The student winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from Pioneer Utility Resources.
Your part? Identify somebody making a difference and tell us how in 50 words or less. We need your name and number for potential follow up. Send nominations to editor@ruralite.org.
About the Series
Pioneer, publisher of Ruralite and Currents magazines, will spotlight Heroes Among Us each month for the next year, sharing the unique stories of volunteers and difference-makers in communities across the Northwest and West. The series, which seeks to inspire community involvement, receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust—a private nonprofit foundation serving nonprofits across the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska, a Murdock grantee, has served Alaskans since 1984.