Jim Berry-the “can-do” guy

April 29th, 2010 | By: Fred Nystrom

“I just see things that need to be done and go do them.”

Jim Berry and Bevette Irvis, Director Wellspring Early Learning Center

While researching these profiles of people who are improving the quality of life in our community, I find that we are blessed to have an abundance of people who are willing to step forward and lead causes, and this is both good and vital. However, Jim Berry is one of those people who are not at the forefront, but who instead labor behind the scenes, mastering all of the little things that in the end make for a successful event, auction, or campaign, and in so doing are responsible for a wide range of positive things in our community.

Jim is a local guy who grew up on Mercer Island and graduated from the University of Washington. His first job, while he was still a senior in college, was as an aide to Senator Henry (Scoop) Jackson. Jim was the detail guy, who drove the senator and made certain that all the arrangements had been made and that all parts of the senator’s trips in Washington State went smoothly. Looking back, he says,” I really value all those hours the senator and I spent alone in the car, driving to events and absorbing the wisdom that fine man shared with me.” Berry stayed with Jackson through the 1972 presidential campaign.

Yearning to get back home Jim and his wife, Chris, moved to the Eastside. Jim soon became the base operations director at Snoqualmie Pass, a position perfectly suited to his quiet behind-the-scenes approach to making things run smoothly.

After the move to Sammamish, Jim gradually became involved in lots of different local organizations as his children became more active. He became an assistant scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts and a trail steward for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, with a focus on Rattlesnake Mountain, where he introduced hiking to his children, Jeff and Jenn.

Perhaps the clearest example of Jim’s philosophy of “I just see things that need to be done and go do them” is his involvement with the planning and development of Skyline High School, where he volunteered 20 to 30 hours a week for close to two years serving as a member of the school’s Core Team, the Site Council, the Five-Year Plan Task Force, and the Curriculum Advisory Committee. His efforts were acknowledged in 2003 when the Issaquah Schools Foundation presented him with the Golden Apple Award for touching the lives of local children.

When asked how he would best describe himself, Jim came back with a very interesting reply. “I am ‘Sweetheart’ to my wife and ‘Dad’ to my children, but there is also another name that I am very proud of being called, and that is ‘The Underwear Man.’ ”

The underwear story is so very Jim that it must be told. “I can remember that date: it was November 18, 1988, when Chris and I attended a presentation where we learned that the lady sitting next to us had started a day care serving homeless children. I approached them and asked ‘What is it I can do to help?’ They told me that many of these male children under age 5 only have one pair of underpants, and with the homeless situation many had regressed to wetting themselves.” Since that moment, Jim has quietly moved to collect or purchase more than 6,000 pair of underpants for the children now served by the Wellspring Early Learning Center.

Sadly, the numbers of homeless children living in shelters for homeless families and sometimes in cars or on the streets of Seattle have climbed to more than 800 on any night. The Wellspring Early Learning Center is able to provide services for only 30 to 40 children, so Jim has taken it upon himself to start an endowment fund, with the goal of raising $5 million and using the interest to provide more care and services for homeless children. The nonprofit OPDC Endowment Fund can be reached at 1420 NW Gilman Blvd, No. 2556, Issaquah 98027, in case you want to help Jim with this vital effort.

And, as you go through your daily life, look around and simply ask yourself, “What can I do to help?” It really is that simple.