After the military, John followed his dream of wanting to help others via a career in law enforcement. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and majored in Criminal Justice. Graduating in 1999 and with multiple lengthy hiring processes, he settled on a position in law enforcement in Blair, Nebraska. After seven years, Jake felt his impact did not draw out his potential, nor was it a good fit for his new growing family. He spent the next decade working in the property and casualty insurance arena, where coincidentally, he ended up insuring the national headquarters for a nonprofit called Kids Against Hunger. John established excellent relationships with the board at Kids Against Hunger and, over the years, came to understand the work they were doing. In 2020, the former director of the Omaha chapter, looking to step down, asked the board about finding a successor. The first name that came up for the board of directors was John's. So 30 years after being exposed to what severe hunger looked like, John was being offered an opportunity to work alongside an organization that would directly impact something that bothered his soul many years earlier. John believes that what pulled him into the mission of "serving the least" was a deep desire to drive something far more significant than him.
Heartland Kids Against Hunger is John's first venture into the nonprofit world, and the experience has been nothing short of rewarding. When asked, "How do you like working for Kids Against Hunger?" he replies, "We have a great team, and we all know that this is part of a much bigger plan. This is about faith and trust. Through space and time, we can't know how many lives will be impacted by what we're doing here, but our events are rewarding to everyone that attends, and the finished product is significant to those receiving it; we're saving lives. You can't describe those feelings a person leaves with after one of our events. but you can definitely see joy, and that's pretty cool to be a part of."
John has two sons, Dylan (18) and Casey (15). They enjoy serving and participating in their church community and anticipate a little more travel in the years ahead as they wrap their arms around this opportunity to "serve the least of God's people." Serving the least is taken from scripture in Matthew 25, where King Jesus reminds those of us entering our final judgment here on earth, that when they were serving the least of His brothers and sisters, they were also serving Him.