Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/198558
ROSE MCKINNEY-JAMES: FILLING HUNGRY STOMACHS By any standard, Rose McKinney-James is a Las Vegas power player, a consultant for energy, education, and environmental policy—and a former commissioner with the Nevada Public Utility Commission and director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, among other government positions. "I came here from DC after grad school," she says, and she served on the boards of United Way, Nevada Public Radio, Ronald McDonald House, and the Public Education Foundation. The common thread: "All of these organizations hit a nerve. I am attracted to activities that have a direct relationship to well-being and quality of life." Her work on the development committee of Three Square Food Bank was born out of the faltering economy. "It opened when Las Vegas was affected by the decline of the economy," she says. "People were facing this stress for the first time." What started as a food bank became part of a larger national network of more than 600 partners. Last year Three Square distributed the equivalent of nearly 19 million meals. "It is a fundamental fact," she adds, "that every human being needs nutrition to perform well." A conversation with a teacher helped McKinney-James realize the true impact of this effort: "One of her students had been able to benefit from our backpack program, which provides food to students to take home on the weekend. It had become a critical part of the family structure." There are many opportunities to give back, she says, "and to the extent it's possible, we should think about that in our daily lives. It all goes back to 'Those to whom much is given, much is expected.'" threesquare.org VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 99 096-105_V_F_VegasGives_Nov13.indd 99 10/23/13 10:58 AM