Remote worker strengthens her community by volunteering

For Jewell Bork, home isn’t just a place – it’s a purpose. From her family ranch west of Okaton, she works remotely in conservation and dedicates her free time to volunteer with the Turner Youth Foundation.

Jewell works full time for the nonprofit South Central Resource Conservation and Development Council. Her daily work helps area residents plan and implement projects and pursue resources to conserve natural resources and sustain rural life.

Outside of work, Jewell also volunteers for the Turner Youth Foundation in Murdo. She works with area teenagers to help organize community events like movie nights, ranch rodeo concession stands, the local Christmas fair, youth activities, and more. She loves watching volunteers and local youth build confidence while connecting with their friends, family, and neighbors.

“It’s wonderful to work with all the kids here,” Jewell says. “They get to be part of the process, and they really do great things. A lot of them have also gone on to achieve their goals, which is a cool aspect of it.”

The Jones County Turner Youth Foundation was launched in 2004 thanks to contributions from CNN founder Ted Turner, who owns land in the northern part of the county. Years of fundraising by local young people, along with community support, transformed the old theater into the Turner Community Center.

Jewell serves as a supervisor along with Valerie Feddersen and Kevin Moore, and with help from First Fidelity Bank, they renovated the space into a social spot for the town. Later the center moved into an addition to the bank.

Since then, Golden West upgraded the area to its fiber-optic network, which Jewell says greatly improved the capabilities of the Turner Community Center. The faster, more reliable connection helped her personally, as well.

“My Golden West service allows me to work from home easily,” Jewell says. “My office can be wherever I have the internet. This works better for me and my family and provides me a lot of opportunities for volunteering with the Turner Youth Foundation.”

Now, she values a smooth connection for both work and life. Evenings with her family no longer mean waiting for gray circles to spin while connecting to the internet. Instead, she and her family enjoy even better online capabilities than those who live in major cities thanks to Golden West.

“I guess I’m just a country girl at heart,” she says. “I worked in Pierre at one point, but I just always had the urge to be back out in the country. The city was too confining for me; I love being where I can go out to my garden, smell freshly mowed grass, and enjoy the peacefulness.”