Listen to the interview here!
Carla Kramer
Carla Kramer: I am the current State President of the Pennsylvania Jaycees, which is a part of the United States Junior Chamber, which is then a part of Junior Chamber International. It’s an international program of young people becoming active citizens.
Toni: Let’s go into the first question of the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Carla: To me, it means an opportunity that is taken when a person is presented with any sort of opportunity to make change in their community, in their family, in their environment, and running with it, whatever that may be. Hopefully, it’s figuring out the core problem and going at that; chipping away at it. That may mean working on the symptoms of the problem, but really taking a much bigger look at the big issue and working at it, and trying to resolve it and not just band-aid the problem.
Toni: So inspiration is all about just getting it done.
Carla: Getting it done, yes.
Toni: I see. How do you put that into practice as far as Berks County is concerned?
Carla: As part of the Jaycees, we do have one chapter in Hamburg. I wish there were more. I wish they were all over Berks County, but within the Hamburg Jaycees, we provide opportunity for young people to make a difference in our community, to make an impact. That could be as simple as having an egg hunt that’s free to the community or throwing a really big parade for the last 49 years that really serves as a homecoming and a holiday of sorts for our small town. It gives young people an opportunity to develop leadership skills, network, socialize, make friends and gain some lifelong skills.
Toni: So the Jaycees puts these types of events on and you guys spearhead this?
Carla: Yes.
Toni: Okay. So when you’re inspired to just get it done, can you give an example of something that you’ve been involved in, whether it’s Jaycees or something else, where you said, “You know what, people are going to say we can't get this done, but I’m inspired to get it done.” Do you have an example of that?
Carla: A good example of that was last year. Our King Frost Parade was snowed out. It went on the record books, because it’s the last Saturday of October, and it snowed – not just a flurry, because that would have been really nice for the King Frost Parade – this was a blizzard that was detrimental to Hamburg, to the county.
We had to cancel the parade, which meant having to deal with the media, the backlash, the feedback, and do it again the next weekend. We take months to put this parade together, and then whenever there is severe weather, we have to do it again in a week, because there’s so many changes that happen just because of a delay. In the past five years, it’s been postponed three times. This last one was because of snow. It will certainly go down in all of our memories as, “Okay, now we regroup, figure out what we have to do, and this time it involves a plow.” Usually it’s just rain – but we get it done, and that means making a lot of phone calls. “Okay, I know a guy with a generator. I know a guy with this …” We get it done.
Toni: So really the inspiration of getting it done but pulling the team together, keeping the team inspired, making sure that everything that was supposed to happen happens again, but yet staying positive about it.
Carla: Yes; and working together, pooling our resources, problem solving and letting mistakes happen. We’re going to learn from our mistakes. We become better, stronger, and wiser because of that. When you’re dealing with people learning life skills, that’s going to happen, and it’s okay to step back and say, “Okay, we’ll learn from this, and we’ll do it better next time.”
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Carla: Young people that see an opportunity to become an active citizen. If that’s registering to vote, if that’s doing a little research on your own to decide where your passion is, that inspires me – just seeing young people take an opportunity, because it’s so different from what the young culture is right now. Being able to put off that instant gratification and put some hard work into something, some elbow grease, and jumping on an opportunity to make an impact and be an active citizen in the community.
Toni: Do you have a specific example of that, where you have seen a young person who has inspired you?
Carla: Yeah. There are many. Every single member that is in the Hamburg Jaycees inspires me. Our chapter was in bad shape for a long time, and almost overnight, they found this spark within themselves and came together. Some of them already knew each other. Some came on board because they like the idea of community service. Within a matter of weeks, these young people came together and started putting ideas together, organizing egg hunts, socials, and geocaching. “Okay, there’s a Hamburger Fest? Yes, we can do this. I don’t know where we’ll get this or that, but we’ll make it happen.” Just seeing them come together and asking for help when they need it and telling me, the old-timer, “We got this. We got this. Thanks for being there, but we got this.”
Toni: So really, the way you define inspiration, how you put it into practice, and then also who inspires you, there is definitely a running theme as far as you’re concerned.
Carla: Absolutely.
Toni: And that is, rolling those sleeves up and getting it done.
Carla: Yes.
Toni: What do you want your legacy to be?
Carla: I’d like my legacy to be known from a strength perspective. I’m a social worker by trade. That is our core. We see the strength in any situation, in any person, and work with that. Whether it be a challenge or a new project that I am able to see the strength in it, make the glass half-full, however you want to look at it, and run with that. The challenges are going to come. That’s just part of life; but with every challenge, there’s a strength, and that we use that to make whatever it is we’re working on a reality.
Toni: And I would think that strength – and it sounds a bit like resilience – is definitely a part of that.
Carla: Sure.
Toni: That strength for you is also what is the engine behind getting the things done with everything that you’re working on.
Carla: Yes. There’s so many times that a project could fall apart a hundred times, and we just keep pushing on. We’ve got to get this done. “There’s kids counting on us. There’s seniors counting on us.” Whatever the case may be. We’ve got to get it done – and we do.
Toni: So the legacy is getting it done because there are people counting on you getting it done.
Carla: Yes.
Toni: Thank you so much, Carla, for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Carla: You’re welcome. Thank you.
