If you’ve spent any time at a Park City nonprofit event, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Karen Scheible. She’s the one who knows everyone in the room and greets you like an old friend. 

Karen has become a familiar, trusted face who has shown up, year after year, for the community she chose to call home. Last month, she sat down with us to reflect on a decade in Park City, share what she’s learned about giving back, and offer a few words of wisdom for anyone looking to get more involved locally. She also recently joined us as a featured speaker in our Board and Donor Speaker Series: Purposeful Volunteering – Find Your Fit, Build Impact.  

Bloom Where You Are Planted 

Karen grew up in New Jersey with volunteering in her DNA. Long before she moved west, she had dedicated years to nonprofit work in development and fundraising and spent time raising her two children while staying active in volunteer leadership — from PTA boards and tutoring to supporting organizations focused on health causes she cared about deeply.  

When she moved to Park City in 2016, she arrived not to test the waters, but to dive in. 

“I was looking forward to starting a new chapter and anxious to move somewhere new and different.  This was my commitment to myself. This was not an experiment. I decided: I’m moving to Park City, this is where I’m going to live and I’m going to make it work for me.” 

She had even subscribed to The Park Record before leaving the Midwest, reading up on local organizations and community needs before she packed or unpacked a single box. Within her first weeks, she had joined the Newcomers Club, connected with the Park City Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Fund, signed up to volunteer at the Utah Symphony’s Deer Valley summer concerts and the Kimball Art Festival as a volunteer. A few months later, she began tutoring students at Mega Genius, which was then part of Park City Institute. Her guiding motto, bloom where you are planted, was already in full effect. 

Nearly a Decade of Showing Up 

Today, Karen’s involvement spans nearly every corner of Park City’s nonprofit and cultural community. She just celebrated 10 years of service as a winter seasonal employee at Deer Valley Resort. Along with being on the Community Foundation’s Development Committee, Karen has been involved with Kimball Art Center, Park City Film, Park City Museum, Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History, Summit Land Conservancy, and the Sundance Film Festival, to name a few. 

For Karen, arts and culture are not a luxury — they make life in a ski town genuinely full and fulfilling. 

“This is such an amazing, active outdoor ski resort, sports town. However, for a balanced life, you can’t spend every day on the slopes and on the trails. So that’s where the arts and culture come in. My life in Park City would not be as enriched without all the exhibitions, music, events, and speakers who come here.” 

Karen feels like she’s gotten an advanced degree living in Park City through her participation in so many nonprofit events and opportunities.  

What Makes a Great Volunteer 

Karen spent years working in nonprofit development before moving here, so she understands the volunteer relationship from both sides. Her take on what makes someone genuinely valuable to an organization is straightforward. 

“That you address the organization’s needs, that you don’t go in with your own agenda. That you’re respectful of the mission. And that you are dependable as it relates to your commitment.” 

For newcomers or longtime residents who want to plug in but aren’t sure where to start, Karen’s advice begins with a few honest questions:  

• What are your passions?  

• What are your skills?  

• What is your time availability?  

The answers will point you toward a fit that’s sustainable and gratifying, not just well-intentioned. 

From there, she says, it comes down to paying attention. 

“It behooves you now to support the community in which you currently live.”  

“Read The Park Record. Listen to KPCW. Notice what is happening around you. There is a lot going on, and much of it is made possible entirely by local nonprofits working diligently behind the scenes.” 

Park City Community Foundation is a good place to start if you’re not sure where to direct your energy because it connects people with the causes and organizations they care about most. 

Looking Ahead 

Karen’s daughter and son-in-law live here. So does her infant grandson, which she considers to be such a blessing. “Nana” suspects he may have been the youngest participant to donate in Live PC Give PC 2025. When she thinks about the next 20 years, it’s even more personal.  

She’s clear-eyed about the pressures this community faces — affordability, growth, the risk of losing the texture, character, and soul that made Park City the unique place it is. But her vision for the future is grounded and specific. 

“To not lose track of our history, to not lose track of the past, and the people who had the vision and commitment to make Park City the vibrant and caring community it is.” 

She hopes to see open space protected, Main Street kept alive with locally owned businesses, and a community where people — whether they’ve lived here for decades or just arrived — are moved to and understand the need to give back. 

“You cannot be in a place and just take from the community and not give back. Indeed, it is a gift to give.” 

When Karen first moved here, someone told her something she has carried with her ever since: “If you’re lucky enough to be here and live here, you’re lucky enough. We should not take that for granted, and we should continue to make sure that we, and those in the future, will have that same feeling. That same sense of what it is to live in this community.” 

Interested in getting involved in the community? Contact Alexis Brown, VP of Development, at alexis@parkcitycf.org.