As we honor those who give back by volunteering their time and talents to the National Court Reporters Foundation during National Volunteer Month, the JCR Weekly is sharing some excerpts from an article appearing in the April JCR magazine about what motivates members to serve.
Throughout his membership in NCRA, NCRF Chair Doug Friend, FAPR, RDR, CRR (Ret.), from Vancouver, Wash., has given his time and talent to a number of committees and councils, including serving on the Association’s Board of Directors and as president in 2011-2012. He said he is proud to currently serve as NCRF Chair because the Foundation’s work is so meaningful.
“Everything we do is to benefit the membership. I feel satisfaction in the knowledge that the efforts that I’m putting in with both NCRA and NCRF have results. It is not time wasted!” he shared. “It’s important to me to give both time and dollars without expecting payback,” he said, and added that while he appreciates pats on the back and being thanked for the work that is done, the best reward is seeing the joy of the recipients of NCRF’s pursuits.
Rich Germosen, FAPR, RDR, CRR, a freelance court reporter and agency owner from North Brunswick, N.J., is an NCRF Trustee and Chair of the Foundation’s Angels Gathering Committee. He said that volunteering for NCRF allows him to give back to the profession by being able to help the next generation of court reporters and captioners through its many programs. He said he receives a lot of satisfaction from seeing the grants and scholarships get awarded to students and professionals at the NCRA Conference each summer.
“This is a great field, but most students need a lot of help to make it to the finish line or to make it when they start reporting. Advocating for the next generation of stenos is why we do what we do at the Foundation,” Germosen added. “If the Foundation has helped you, it would be great if you paid it forward for the next person that needs help. Someone once said you should strive to leave the field better than how you found it.”.
Read more about why NCRA members give back by volunteering for their Association and Foundation in the April issue of the JCR magazine.
Ready to volunteer?
NCRA is currently seeking members to volunteer for committees for the 2026-2027 year. If you want to be one of our treasured volunteers who moves the court reporting, captioning, and legal videography professions forward, go to NCRA.org/Committees and fill out the Committee Volunteer Form.
Committees begin their work immediately following the NCRA Conference & Expo, so we are seeking volunteers to be considered by the NCRA Board of Directors prior to the Conference happening this July.
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