North Texas Couple Make Community Service a Priority

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:16)

No time for community service? That reasoning won’t fly with a couple from Sachse, Texas, who are neck deep in building up the community they call home.

Scott McMurdie, CFP, QPFC, and Partner at Shea & McMurdie Retirement, was recently appointed Chairman of the Board for the Garland Chamber of Commerce at its 86^th Annual Banquet.

McMurdie’s association with the Chamber began some 15 years ago when he joined father Greg McMurdie’s financial planning practice, which meant joining his father in the Chamber. Six years ago the senior McMurdie, who sat on the Chamber’s board, left their business to serve a two-year full-time mission for their Church with his wife in Santiago, Chile. Scott was asked by the Board to step in and fill his father’s term for its duration. At its completion Scott was invited to stay on, and his valued service has now brought him to this point.

Service is not new for McMurdie, but in fact is basic to his character; whether to his God and faith, his family, or the community.

As a young man Scott served a volunteer two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Panama, where he learned to speak Spanish fluently. Today he presides as Bishop, the ecclesiastical leader, over a congregation of 500+ of that same Church in Sachse.

Giving to his community has always been forefront in McMurdie’s mind. As a young man he was active in Boy Scouts of America. His Eagle Scout project was one that directly impacted a neighboring community. Scott personally went door to door having citizens of Sachse to fill out a survey to receive 911 services.  Ultimately, due to his efforts and findings, the city of Sachse received 911 services.  As an adult he served as a Scoutmaster for five years.

During the past several years, Scott has served on numerous boards including: Garland Chamber of Commerce, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center of Garland, and the GISD Education Foundation.  He served on Leadership Garland Prayer Breakfast Committee numerous years and twice was Chairman of the group, was Chair of the Chamber’s Gold Committee, and served as the Immediate Past chair of the LG Steering Committee. In 2014 the Chamber honored him for his tireless efforts and in 2017 was presented the 2017 Leadership Garland award.

Asked what he receives personally through his service in the community, Scott says,

“At this time, it is really is enjoyable and fulfilling to see how the Chamber is able to help small businesses grow, and be a part of that process myself. There are a lot of bright people I get to sit down with and figure out how to solve problems. You know, that’s fun! The relationships I’m developing are just great. These are high caliber folks.”

When questioned if he might consider seeking service opportunities through an elected office in the future McMurdie replied,

“I don’t see myself running for a political office. I don’t enjoy the politics of politics. I think more work can be done behind the scenes than being in the public eye. Citizens can effect change for the good in their communities by simply becoming involved in their schools, neighborhood associations, and local service organizations.”

Though terrifically busy, Scott’s family is still his first priority. Family time, time with each child, and time alone with his wife are musts for McMurdie.

The attitude of service isn’t just limited to Scott in the McMurdie family, his wife Carrie McMurdie is also active in their community of Sachse, where she currently serves as Director of the Sachse Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). This program educates the public about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as light search & rescue, disaster medical operations, team organization and fire safety.  Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT trained individuals learn to assist their family, neighbors and co-workers following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

Carrie graduated from the CERT course approximately six years ago and took the reins as Director in February 2016.

If preparing and organizing relief for natural disasters wasn’t exciting enough, Carrie’s newest community service involves patroling her community in a city police cruiser as part of the Sachse

Volunteers In Police Service (VIPS) program. The community service program began offering it’s first participants course in June 2017, and Carrie was a member of it’s first graduating class.VIPS volunteers assist in many areas of the police department including field services, investigations, communications, records, administration, and animal control.

“Each VIPS volunteer must put in at least eight hours of service per month. You can patrol any time of the day you’d like. I typically patrol at night because its more conducive to my family needs. I also will patrol during the day when my children are in school. I have to be with a partner at all times. We are basically out in the community to assist it’s members and the police department in any way we can.” Though not involved in direct law enforcement action, VIPS volunteers are additional eyes and hands for the police officers in their town.

“We help with small time consuming tasks on crime and accident scenes so the officers can get things taken care of and get back out on our streets sooner than later. When they need traffic control help or crowd control we are called in to help.”

In her ‘spare time’ Carrie also is the Co-Founding President of the Sachse Citizen Corp – a 501C-3 corporation umbrella for citizen service organizations, she is Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) certified for Collin County certified, is the Assistant Girls Camp Director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in her area, enjoys working as a mentor for the Wylie Independent School District, and is a regular at her children’s schools.

When asked how community service became so important for her she says,

“I got the bug when I served as Asst Director of Pubic Affairs in our Stake and really started to see the need and opportunity for members to be more involved in our communities. Then, there seemed to be more talks in General Conference and such, on the topic and I began realizing that this was something we were being encouraged to do.

“As I began to get involved I saw that I could make a difference, and be a positive influence. I enjoy working with the firefighters and police officers who are our community servants, and serving them. To relieve our public servants in any way is rewarding to me.”

Making a mark in your community and influencing things for the good doesn’t take holding elected office, having a lot of money, or taking a lot of time. What it does take is the desire to serve others, to speak up, and to sacrifice some time, even just a small amount.  A little involvement on your part will go a long way to better the place you call home and help to build a stronger community for your family.