Caught in the Act of Generosity: Kris Kennedy

by Christina Socorro Yovovich of the Rad Gen Committee

Kris Kennedy moved to Albuquerque in 2005, and she immediately joined First Unitarian. She had visited the congregation when she was considering where to settle next and felt at home right away. She remembers visiting the church and thinking, “Yep. I can do it.” Once she was a member, she joined a covenant group and the stewardship committee, which was the precursor to the Radical Generosity Committee. At the time, she was a professional fundraiser, raising funds nationally for Humane Societies, food pantries, and domestic abuse shelters. Not long after, she adopted twin boys, and had to step away from church for a bit to protect their health as they were preemies and it was cold season. She was touched when her covenant group threw them a baby shower in the spring, once cold season was over.

As all her children—two sets of twins—reached school age, she began volunteering in Religious Education as a teacher, and in 2019 she rejoined the Radical Generosity committee. She also teaches financial education courses for the church as a part of her professional outreach. In addition, she has served on the board of the local Animal Humane. When asked how she finds the time and energy for volunteering at First U when she has such a full plate—work, single parenting, and also multiple volunteer commitments—she replied, “It is important to make time for the things I care about.” “Nobody has time,” she said and then continued that while it was sometimes hard after 11 hours of work to attend a Rad Gen meeting, she never once regretted it. “These are amazing people. This is good work. We’re all pitching in.”

She shares that volunteer work feeds her, that it is the work of “building things beyond ourselves. Something bigger for the generations.” Her roots in Albuquerque are intertwined with the community of First U. All her children have stood before the congregation at their Coming of Age services. Her son Evan is now in the church band. She has created her “family of choice” here among church members. Always she reminds herself, this is good work, and this is needed work. She writes, “I’m a huge believer that many small acts—when combined—can create a revolution of change.”