Leadership program working for businesses

PORTALES — Those involved with local businesses are getting further insight into the community while also supporting it.

This year’s Leadership Portales program is making progress with their community service project since starting in August.

The class gathers business professionals to promote leadership and learn about the community, according to participant and Portales MainStreet Executive Director Sandy Vigil.

“They’re a little over halfway done,” Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry added.

This year, participants are collecting items for Consigning Women and Angel Ministries, Vigil said.

Vigil said the class is helping to keep the shelves stocked at Consigning Women while also helping fix their roof, which has leaked for a few years.

The class decided on the project in January, she added, with fundraising efforts occurring during community events.

“What our class thought was for events that are already happening, we thought it would be best to tag on to those events,” said Vigil, adding that she hopes future classes will continue collaborating with other events for fundraisers.

The class participated in the recent Martin Luther King Jr. event as well as McDonald’s McTeachers Night.

“Knowing that we can support those who need help was the push for our class to make this our project,” said Vigil.

She said no particular fundraising goal was set for the project, but the class has collected 400 non-perishable food items so far for Angel Ministries as well as monetary donations for Consigning Women.

The class raised $200 during the Roosevelt County chamber’s annual banquet, Vigil said.

The experience was described as “eye-opening” by Vigil.

“As someone like myself who works with the community, I’ve learned a lot as well,” she said.

Jeremy Buurma with J.P. Stone Community Bank is also participating in this year’s Leadership Portales class.

“I’m not from Portales, so it’s been really enjoyable for me,” said Buurma. “It’s pretty interesting. It directly affects our community, and we like that part of it.”

Buurma said the class meets monthly to discuss the project and ways to achieve certain goals.

“It’s different entities coming together for one goal,” said Buurma. “Just working with the individuals in the community is nice. It’s a good idea to get familiar with everyone and the things going on.”

The class will continue fundraising for the project through mid-May.