The importance of being selfless.

• Author: Cohen, Kay Chopard

Being a bit of a late-bloomer myself having married over the age of 40,1 have been blessed with a husband who's a prosecutor and twin boys who just became teenagers. They all play lacrosse and I spend most of my weekends on lacrosse fields watching tournaments. One of the things my boys are praised for is being team players and learning to be selfless in giving the team what is needed when it's needed. NDAA has been blessed to have prosecutors who are also selfless and in ways you may not even have known. Let me tell you two stories I hope will inspire you as they have me.

First, I want to hold out the example of the New Mexico district attorneys and their administrative office. Sadly a prosecutor from among them died in the courtroom while upholding his obligation as a prosecutor. His family later received money from his death and offered to donate it to the New Mexico District Attorneys Association. You know these men and women including Henry Valdez, Lemuel Martinez, Donald Gallegos and many others. Rather than take the gift of money to use only for the benefit of New Mexico prosecutors, they recommended the family give the money to the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) to be used to train prosecutors across the country.

The first installment was $200,000 with which the NDAA leadership has begun a foundation in the name of the Wayne A. Jordon and Sandra A. Grisham Family. They will be giving NDAA installments each year going forward for some time. This donation has provided the NDAA with the opportunity to create a foundation and endowment that would otherwise not have been possible. We are incredibly grateful to the New Mexico prosecutors for their foresight, generosity and act of selflessness.

On Christmas Eve last year NDAA once again benefited from a selfless act by one of our own prosecutors. One prosecutor who has held many jobs and worn many hats at NDAA as a past president, co-chair of the Membership Committee, member of the Audit Committee, presenter and lecturer, and constant supporter of NDAA through thick and thin. He pushed me to get a donation button added to the NDAA webpage to provide members and others with the ability to make a donation to the NDAA online in an easy form. So last fall the webmaster set up a special button on the...