Volunteer of the Week: Working to serve the South River
By LORI PHELAN, Staff Writer, The Capital
Originally published March 20, 2006
Although Kincey Potter has only been a resident of the area for a short while, she was born to be a watchdog for the local environment. As such, Mrs. Potter has been nominated as The Capital's Volunteer of the Week for her devotion in serving the South River Federation as president and the river she has grown to love.
"For me, the bay is very special," Mrs. Potter said. "When I first learned about the future of the bay and the possibility it could die in my lifetime, it was frightening."
Being the workaholic and hands-on type of person she lays claim to, how could she not be involved in bettering the future of the bay and in particular the river she enjoys the most - the South River. But in what capacity soon became the looming question. She settled on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and soon afterwards, the newly organized South River Federation.
"(The Chesapeake Bay) is still a beautiful resource. It's the reason we work so hard."
At first, her efforts were limited to one day per week and "doing whatever" was requested of her. That often meant serving on committees for various fund-raisers, like the organization's annual fish fry. It's something she continues to do and enjoy.
Before long the organization grew in financial resources and to require a small staff. That's when Mrs. Potter's invaluable skills came into use.
"I was in the right place at the right time," she said modestly. "I have a lot of skills that I've built upon in my career. I just put them to use to build the organization. It's a great fit to find something that is of great importance to me and everyone else at the same time."
Those special skills were honed during her 20-year career as a vice-president for a large management software system company dealing with the banking industry, a job she retired from shortly after surviving the 9-11 tragedy at the World Trade Center second tower terrorist attack. They are also skills developed through a two-year service period as a board member for the Virginian non-profit group, Facets.
Some of those special talents have less do with filling human resources needs than knowing who to call and how to accomplish setting up a successful non-profit organization. All of that effort comes at a high price, though. It's a job that requires about 30 hours or so a week_all of which is non-paid.
Under that heading comes the task of finding office space, hiring a staff of three and securing all the personnel requirements that incurs. It also means managing a budget of $250,000, a significant increase from $30,000 when she first began.
The mission of the SRF has also grown under her leadership as well to include water quality and shoreline restoration projects, advocacy issues of development and watershed protection, and coordinating conservation efforts with like groups.
"Getting money isn't what makes you work hard, really. It's the doing the job that needs to be done and being passionate about the work that's really valuable," she said.
When not serving as an active environmentalist, Mrs. Potter enjoys yoga, bird watching, and sailing and traveling with her husband of just about 40 years, Bruce Potter.
The South River Federation is hosting the group's annual charity auction, South River on the Halfshell, from 7 to 10 p.m. March 23 at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Philip Merrill Environmental Center, 6 Herndon Ave. Admission is $50 for members and $60 for non-members. A limited number of admissions will be available at the door the night of the event for $65. Admission includes heavy hors d'oeuvres, oysters on the halfshell, wine, beer, coffee and dessert. For reservations, contact 443-482-2155.
