Ken Polk ’91 leads a “Mitzvah” life.  As a model to his three young children, Ken, the new president of the Alumni Association’s Executive Council, participates in a Buffalo-area community event called “Mitzvah Day,” where members of a local church, temple and mosque come together to perform community service in about 30 locations around Buffalo.  “Mitzvah” is a Hebrew word for “good deed.”  “This, I tell my children,” says Ken, “is the reason we fill boxes of canned foods or rake a garden at the local nursing home.  It’s important to give back to your community and to perform good deeds for those in need.” He was a member of the Jewish Student Union, was active in community service and wrote for The Hill News as a student.

It is this same reason Ken, a psychology major who studied on the University’s London Program, cites for his service to St. Lawrence. As an Alumni Council member for the past nine years, he has made at least four trips to campus every year, led efforts to assist admissions and made countless connections with current students, faculty, staff and fellow alumni. He’s also been a regular donor. “For many years, up until my 10th reunion, I think I gave $25 per year.  It wasn’t much but I knew my donation, along with another 1,000 gifts of $25, would add up to buy science equipment, fund a scholarship or offset some costs of St. Lawrence’s renowned international programs.  I felt good about giving back to the place that gave me so much and felt as though my ‘good deed’ would help others in some small way,” he says.

As president of the Alumni Executive Council, Ken endorses the goal of raising alumni participation in the St. Lawrence Annual Fund by 10 points - from 35% to 45% - by the end of Momentum, the current campaign, in 2010. 

When not “working” for St. Lawrence, Ken is sales manager for Automatic Data Processing in Buffalo.