By JOHN E. WEARE, Keep Alliance Beautiful
ALLIANCE, Neb. - Keep Alliance Beautiful’s financial associate will leave our affiliate Oct. 15 after more than five years here. Chandra Krug’s knowledge of this non-profit and her role in its success belie a title that alludes to dollars and cents on a balance sheet. I will miss her and the expertise she wielded on almost any KAB question.
As recycling coordinator (a more straightforward title) I usually see Chandra at least once a week to drop off reports, receipts and the paperwork dejure. As I descend the well-worn exterior steps and enter the office, in the lower level of the City Municipal Building, I can hear her classic rock/pop on the speaker and often look for her pint-sized pooch, Bella. Conversation covers anything not already relayed by text, such as the latest business call to pick up recycling or a request I may have for supplies or information. Chandra’s positive attitude is always refreshing in a business where we measure volume yet never ‘get ahead’.
Chandra has deep roots here – growing up in Alliance and graduating from Alliance High School. She and husband Keith have two adult children. Dalton, 22, works at Box Butte General Hospital and is attending school to be a registered nurse. Jaiden, 20, is working at Head Start while pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education. While she did not attend college, Chadra noted that “Every single thing I know I learned from doing. I haven’t had a whole lot of jobs, I stay forever.” She continues to work at 7th Street Dance Studio after 19 years and spent 20 years at Expedient Claims Service, starting there in 1994. So why join a Keep America Beautiful affiliate?
“In May of 2020, Kathy (Worley, executive director) called me one day. Diane was retiring, they asked me to help out and here we are.” Personnel changes also led to resource coordinator duties as part of Chandra’s job description.
As she leaves the duties will be split among two people again. Though what Chandra does fills four and a half pages (as categorized for her successors) she mentioned a number of highlights. “Lots of spreadsheets, all the grants, I pay the bills, get payroll ready for the accountant to do, in-kind spreadsheets . . . balance the ledger. I didn’t realize how much I’m doing until I started teaching it,” she explained. Chandra also posts this column to our Facebook page, keeps track of recycling volumes, takes phone calls, checks multiple email accounts and just about anything to “make sure everything keeps running,” she said. “There’s a lot more to it. You wouldn’t believe how much you have to do . . . One person can’t do it – it takes a team, kind of mindblowing. You have to have a good relationship with the grant places. You have to know how to talk to people.”
Among her favorite aspects of the job, Chandra said that she loves running the numbers and making sure everything balances as well as seeing when grants are awarded. Accounting for “in kind” was challenging to learn. She also learned a lot about spreadsheets, a skill she values and plans to implement in the future.
“The people that come and go, the people who stay,” was a memorable part of her time at KAB. Also, “It made me feel good I was able to do both (KAB and 7th Street Dance Studio). Both were challenging but in different ways. At 7th Street I put the program together and help with the little ones. KAB is much more financial numbers.”
Most of the time Chandra mans the office herself though she shared a few memories: (Former recycling coordinator) G.O. used to come up to the office with his muddy boots and I had to make a giant sign for him to wipe his boots before he walked on the carpet so I didn’t have to scrub it. I always liked the people I worked with. Also, some days were a little bit rough and on those days Kathy always brought me flowers to make me feel better. I got audited one time from NET . . . and I ended up passing with flying colors.
Kathy reflected on Chandra’s role at KAB. “It’s entirely rare to have an employee like Chandra, she possesses all of the best qualities for her job as financial associate. Truly dependable, she knows the Keep Alliance Beautiful mission thoroughly. At the risk of sounding cliche, Chandra is dedicated, hardworking, honest and great at what she does; which is to keep us all good at what we do. We ultimately depend on her to let us know where we are in the budget, as to whether or not we can add another employee, buy a necessary piece of equipment, or take a couple of days off.
“In fact, Chandra is so good at her job, NDEE (now DWEE) uses her formula for teaching its grant recipients how to submit their quarterly reports. That’s really good!!”