Volunteering has brought a lot to Jane Lampke Bracken's life — personal satisfaction, new friends, even love.

        Her first date with her husband, Bob, was a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event at Americana Amusement Park.

        “As soon as we knew we had that in common . . . ,” she smiles. By the end of the day he'd asked her out to dinner that evening. “It was the beginning of the happy ending,” she says. It was a pretty straight path to the altar.

        Mrs. Bracken was born and raised in Covington. By the time she'd started high school, she was volunteering one day a week. “My older brother, Tom (Lampke), was a social worker, and he was a great example for me.”

        When she was a high school senior (in 1987), she and a group of high school friends joined him in a two-year project to help low-income families in an after-school program at Covington Community Center.

        She continued with her volunteering while she studied marketing and math at Northern Kentucky University.

        Mrs. Bracken chooses her volunteer efforts and charities “by what effects my life,” she says.

        She works full-time and has devoted her own time on behalf of Vietnam veterans, homeless shelters and the National Parkinson's Society. “My mother has Parkinson's. That's close to home.” As well as her mother, Mrs. Bracken's widowed grandmother holds a big place in her schedule.

        The Brackens were married in 1996. That's when they started volunteering together at the annual ATP Tournament.

        They've also supplied and prepared food on Thanksgiving for Covington Welcome House and bicycled for Multiple Sclerosis. That bike trek, she laughs, “was his idea.”.

        Mr. Bracken calls his wife a role model, even to him. “She motivates me,” he says, to maintain his own volunteer activities.

        He adds that one of their goals is to “someday establish a means to help the less fortunate find the ability to support themselves and help improve society.”

        The volunteer activity that's dearest to Mrs. Bracken's heart is being a Big Sister. Last year she received a 10-year service award. She was originally drawn to the program, she says, because “I was the youngest in my family and never had anyone to mentor. I like kids and I wanted a one-on-one experience.”

        On a recent Saturday, Mrs. Bracken and little sis Stacey Mier, 13, were doing what they like to do best — hanging out together.

        Mrs. Bracken and Stacey, who lives in Fort Mitchell, have been together six years. It was a former little sis (who soon graduated from the Big Sisters program) who was there for the Brackens' fateful first date.

        Stacey and Mrs. Bracken found each other in time for Stacey to be in Mrs. Bracken's wedding as a junior bridesmaid.

        They volunteer together, in events like For Kids' Sake and for the School for Creative and Performing Arts.

        Mrs. Bracken has participated in Make a Difference Day since 1989. In 1998, Stacey joined a group Mrs. Bracken led on Make a Difference Day to help restore Covington Community Center.

        Stacey's eyes shine when she talks about visits to the Brackens. There have been overnights where they babysit together. A day at the Brackens includes playing with the family dogs, dachshund Ozzie and golden retriever Ripley.

        Ripley was an Easter surprise for Bob Bracken. Stacey picked the puppy out of the litter.

        Stacey and Mrs. Bracken have had a lot of adventures together, including a trip to the Atlanta Olympics.

        The vacation, her first out-of-state, was great, says Stacey, but the best thing about their relationship is “I can tell her anything.”

        Mrs. Bracken smiles. “You go into volunteering thinking how much you're going to give and not realizing how much you're going to get back.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Women of the Year
Danya Karram
Francie Schott Hiltz
J.J. Johnson-JioDucci
Jane Lampke Bracken
Mary Frances Williams Clauder
Mauri J. Willis
Merri Gaither Smith
Sherrie Lou Noel
Sisters Mary Ann Fuerst and Alice Marie Soete
The Rev. Dr. Cinda Gorman
Past Enquirer Women of the Year