Jessica Rothgerber Murr
3047
VOTES
Jessica has held various jobs in her life, but the one constant is her commitment to being a leader in service. She is always trying to get friends and family to follow her on the path to help others. Growing up in a family where volunteerism was encouraged and fostered, Jessica watched her parents put in countless hours helping others. She followed that lead and while in college, Jessica was a ‘big buddy’ to a middle school student as well as a volleyball coach (in addition to going to school fulltime and working part time!). After college, Jessica started working with the refugee population and became an advocate for refugee students in middle and high school. That position lead to a recruiting position at a local college where she took two international amputee applicants under her wings. Through her dedication and determination, they secured the funding needed to attend and graduate from the college.
After getting married and having children, Jessica’s dedication to service remains. She has 4 young children ages 7, 5, 3 and 1 ½ year old. She is very active in their schools by serving as PTO President, Room Mom, Book Fair coordinator and Teacher Appreciation coordinator, as well as serving on the School Improvement Committee. In addition to serving her children’s schools, Jessica also gives back to her alma mater by serving on the Alumni Board of Directors (immediate past president) and heading up the Alumni Awards committee.
Often times Jessica’s personal experiences drive her committed to causes. For example, Jessica’s experiences with infertility and miscarriage have lead to her outreach to women in a similar situation. She is always available to listen and sometimes just hold others who have also suffered a loss.
Most recently Jessica’s volunteer efforts have focused on raising awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research. In December 2007, Jessica’s father in law, Fred Murr, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jessica immediately started researching the best ways to combat this aggressive cancer. Much to her surprise, she found very little -- except the survival rate was very low. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types of cancer with very little money available for research.
Jessica and her husband, Ben, decided to take action! They created the Chili & Chocolate Cook-Off and recently re-named it after Fred: The Fred Murr Memorial Chili and Chocolate Cook-Off. All of the money raised goes to The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. The Murrs were bored with the usual fundraising walks and started thinking outside the box. Their love of friends, chili and desserts made a chili & chocolate cook-off the perfect event to help raise awareness as well as funds.
Last year, with the event held at their home, just over $3200 was raised. This year, the Cook-Off has been moved due to the increase in popularity—word has started to get out and people have been asking for an invitation! They hope to double the amount raised this year.
More than anything, Jessica saw friends coming together socially but felt the need to take it one step further. As a young mother in her early 30s with four kids, she does not have a lot of extra time, yet she chooses to spend it on something that will hopefully make a big impact in the future of others.
After getting married and having children, Jessica’s dedication to service remains. She has 4 young children ages 7, 5, 3 and 1 ½ year old. She is very active in their schools by serving as PTO President, Room Mom, Book Fair coordinator and Teacher Appreciation coordinator, as well as serving on the School Improvement Committee. In addition to serving her children’s schools, Jessica also gives back to her alma mater by serving on the Alumni Board of Directors (immediate past president) and heading up the Alumni Awards committee.
Often times Jessica’s personal experiences drive her committed to causes. For example, Jessica’s experiences with infertility and miscarriage have lead to her outreach to women in a similar situation. She is always available to listen and sometimes just hold others who have also suffered a loss.
Most recently Jessica’s volunteer efforts have focused on raising awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research. In December 2007, Jessica’s father in law, Fred Murr, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jessica immediately started researching the best ways to combat this aggressive cancer. Much to her surprise, she found very little -- except the survival rate was very low. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types of cancer with very little money available for research.
Jessica and her husband, Ben, decided to take action! They created the Chili & Chocolate Cook-Off and recently re-named it after Fred: The Fred Murr Memorial Chili and Chocolate Cook-Off. All of the money raised goes to The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. The Murrs were bored with the usual fundraising walks and started thinking outside the box. Their love of friends, chili and desserts made a chili & chocolate cook-off the perfect event to help raise awareness as well as funds.
Last year, with the event held at their home, just over $3200 was raised. This year, the Cook-Off has been moved due to the increase in popularity—word has started to get out and people have been asking for an invitation! They hope to double the amount raised this year.
More than anything, Jessica saw friends coming together socially but felt the need to take it one step further. As a young mother in her early 30s with four kids, she does not have a lot of extra time, yet she chooses to spend it on something that will hopefully make a big impact in the future of others.
Supported charity:
The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research