Joe Heard

Proving Greatness Grows from Small Beginnings

By Heather Petrek

Photography by Dan Clement (visit Dan’s website at www.clearfocusphotography.com)

 



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Live, Work & Play in Escondido

Escondido resident since 1978, owner of Heard’s Construction, and highly esteemed and awarded member and coordinator of the San Diego North County Kiwanis Clubs, Joe Heard is a seventy-something years young humanitarian still going strong in his dedication to helping those in need.


Joe was born in Alabama, the son of a sharecropper who was unable to afford education for him and his siblings. When Joe joined the military at age18, he could not even write his own name to sign the contract. The military sent him to school, and Joe graduated from USC under a Navy program where he majored in cinema. He was commissioned after President Kennedy was assassinated, and worked for President Johnson under a classified visit to the West Coast. “My assignment was to cover the President with a motion picture team and from there I had it made. I’ve written scripts, directed a few films, and worked out of Washington D.C.” says Heard. “I was on the Presidential Staff for 12 years doing television, motion pictures and still phot
ography in support of the President. I retired after a 30-year career with the military in 1978. The greatest thing about my career was the people who were around me. It was the people who gave me the opportunities.”


Joe joined the Escondido Kiwanis Club in 1987 and has been in service ever since. His division, Division 37 is comprised of 18 clubs in the local area.


The motto of the Kiwanis is “Serving the Children of the World,” and over the last several years Joe has been an instrumental part in a service project for the children of Romania. Because of the high number of orphaned and abandoned children in Romania, the Kiwanis Club Division 37 in partnership with Heart 2 Heart International Ministries raised money and supplies for a life-changing service project. The idea was to build a trade school for orphaned boys and a transition home and training center for the girls. The project required Kiwanis to raise $25,000.00 for purchase of the land and the buildings, and Heart 2 Heart Ministries would provide the educators needed for the schools.


In 2003 the goals were met, and the trade school for boys was dedicated to these needy children. The trade school was originally to offer five different areas of study to the boys: bicycle repair, automotive repair, cooking, baking and sewing, but recently computer technology has been added.


In 2004, it was the girls’ turn. Division 37’s $45,000.00, plus computers, furniture, a stove, a refrigerator, dishes, a sewing machine, a piano, carpeting and cabinetry were donated and Kiwanis and Heart 2 Heart International Ministries officially dedicated the transition home. The girls now have their own place to live, learn and thrive.


In May of 2007 yet another project was in the works. The Romanian government gave $5,000.00 for the construction of two greenhouses, then Kiwanis Division 37 provided the equipment, the heaters, pipes and fittings, fertilizer and tons and tons of seeds for the completion of the project.


An additional project currently pending is the donation of a 2.5 million dollar water purification system for the country, which is due to be delivered in mid-2008. An independent engineering company is working with Division 37 to complete this important donation, which will not only provide clean drinking water, but the ability for the orphans to bottle and sell the water to the community, thus allowing them to earn an income and become contributing members to their society.


One more donation Kiwanis Division 37 so lavishly provided to the children of Romania has been a program called Cinematique, which began in 2003. Cinematique is the donation of over 500 American films like Disney classics and other family movies and also DVD’s and VCR’s on which to play them. Cinematique offers entertainment that is uplifting and also enjoyable.


Because of the service to the children of Romania, Joe Heard and his colleague, Dave Imper, have been nominated for the Kiwanis World Service Medal. This honor, bestowed for providing support to the needs of the world, will include a check for $10,000.00. Besides Mr. Heard and Mr. Imper, there are two other nominees for this award. The recipient will be announced in March of 2008.


Some of the achievements Joe is most proud of include: “District Life Member” in recognition of outstanding individual contributions to Kiwanis and community in 2001, “Kiwanis Ambassador of the Year” awarded to him in 2004-2005 in recognition of outstanding leadership and service in Romania, the “Tablet of Honor” in 2004 awarded by the Kiwanis Club of Escondido and Kiwanis California-Nevada-Hawaii District, and “Kiwanis Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2005-2006 by the California-Nevada-Hawaii District Human and Spiritual Values Committee.


“I would like young people to realize that they are against themselves when they say ‘I can’t’,” says Joe. “If I could make it as a country boy from the farm, then anyone out there can make it.” EM



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