People with Purpose: Jen Rust

Growing up in a philanthropy-focused family, Jen Rust was bound to incorporate volunteering in her life at some point. But moving to new city provided her the perfect opportunity to get involved. At 32 years old, Rust is involved in close to 10 nonprofit organizations, has chaired a handful of events, is an Asolo board member and has a successful career. She shares with us her thoughts on why money isn’t the only thing people can give nonprofits.

I grew up in Atlanta and had been working in the real estate business for 10 years there. I was ready for a change of pace, scenery and career. I had an opportunity to move down here with a job transfer and I took the plunge. Without knowing anyone, I moved to Sarasota in 2008.

Philanthropy has always been a large part of my life, and I figured it was a good way to start meeting people. From my grandparents’ involvement, my grandpa did a lot of work in the Fort Lauderdale community working with at-risk youth and my grandmother was a nurse, to my parents, who have both worked for nonprofits and spent much of their spare time volunteering, I definitely come from a family who truly enjoys giving back.

I started working with Children First and Girls Inc. I love both organizations’ missions and the fact that they are focused on kids.

For me I feel like it boils down to kids, and that’s really because that’s what got me started, volunteering at Children First. It particularly focuses on early childhood, newborn to 5 years old. To me, if we can educate, lift up and show the children at a young age what their potential is, as adults they can thrive and our community will be a better place because of that. That’s where my deepest passions are.

My involvement has expanded since I started. I went through a program the Arts and Culture Alliance put on a few years ago, and I was able to learn about all the different arts organizations. I was really intrigued by Asolo Repertory Theatre. It’s amazing how we live in such a small community, comparatively speaking, yet we have a theater that is on par with theaters in New York and Los Angeles. That’s when I became involved as a committee member three years ago for the annual gala. I met the people who were involved, learned more about the organization and this past November I joined the board as a corporate member.

With the job I have now at PNC Wealth Management, I’ve had more time to make a greater commitment because of the flexibility they allow and the encouragement they have for being involved with the community. I’ve been able to expand the organizations I’ve wanted to work with and I am currently the market leader with a PNC Foundation, “Grow up Great” that works with Children First.

The hardest part about being involved in this community is choosing an organization. There are so many ways to spend your time, so for me it’s really important to incorporate things like Children First that I started with and Asolo, to maintain those roots, but also to grow my passions in other areas, like New College. That was something I had never thought about before I was asked to join the Pique Nique committee, but by being involved you find out how great the organizations are and what they do for our community.
You basically have two ways to give — monetarily or by giving your time. People in my age group don’t necessarily have the money or the big checks to write, but we have our time. This community thrives on people who support all of the organizations, and if we want to continue this, we have to give something. When I first started, it was my time. That was the commitment I could make.

Another new organization I’m involved in is the Alan Rust Memorial Scholarship Foundation my family and I started in Atlanta. When we lost my brother last year to a very tragic event and not anything we were expecting, we sat down as a family and thought about what we could do that not only could leave a lasting legacy for him, but something that could turn a negative into something positive. We started the Alan Rust Memorial Scholarship Foundation in Atlanta, working with the Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia. It’s a scholarship fund foundation to give back to kids who need extra help getting through college.