To Sam Carrell, life is like a business. In all matters, even those of the heart, he looks at the pros and cons, efficiencies and outcomes. In July of last year, Carrell was presented with a proposition: Would he become the professional leader of the Number 1 Question: Is it good for the kids?

At first, a movement to ensure that every community decision is made with the question “Is it good for the kids?” in mind struck him as a “fluffy” concept. However, his wife advised him to leave his position at the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

“She said, ‘The business world will always be there. You need to do this. It will be good for your soul,'” Carrell explained.

Carrell says he became executive director of Number 1 Question because of his passion for children and because he wanted to have an impact on their lives in the same way volunteers had an effect on his childhood.

“People say, ‘Find something you love and do that,'” Carrell said. “I’ve had great jobs, but I never really had that. I never really had that passion for a job before this.”

It was the practicality of the organization that clinched the deal. Carrell said backers like Principal Financial Group Inc, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, United Way of Central Iowa and the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation led him to take a second look at the concept. Then he saw the pragmatism of Number 1 Question’s plan to measure the health and well-being of children in Polk County and determine more efficient charity investments.

“It’s a business approach – outcome-based,” Carrell said.

The organization gathers research, determines where donations could have the greatest positive effect on children, informs the public of its findings and, if all goes according to plan, inspires the public to act accordingly. Number 1 Question’s targets for action in the public include faith-based and neighborhood organizations, parent-teacher associations and organizations, businesses, schools and the government.

“We make it personal so that it’s like a water main breaking in your front yard,” Carrell said. “We don’t just lose kids on the bottom of the economic scale. We lose kids in mansions, too.”

He says that all too often, the community puts its money and energy in the wrong places. For example, studies have shown that the amount of time a toddler is held and read to greatly affects his or her ability to learn. When Number 1 Question compiled its 2002 community growth chart, it compared Polk County with the rest of the country in areas such as prenatal conditions, child health and preparedness for adulthood. Polk County’s lowest rating is in the area of readiness for school.

“People won’t pay for early-childhood programs to prevent problems for kids, but they end up paying for the consequences whether they like it or not,” Carrell said. “Taxpayers pay $1.7 million for a child in the criminal justice system over his or her lifetime. Save 200 kids and you have an event center.”

Joe Gonzalez, a Number 1 Question board member and senior police officer with the Des Moines Police Department who is known for his outreach work with the Hispanic community, stands behind the importance of the movement.

“When the organization started, they wanted diversity and people who were known in the community,” said Gonzalez. “I felt humbled, but it was a good movement to join. One impact of the Number 1 Question is it has made people aware of where we are and where we need to go. I think that everyone knew, in the back of their minds, that it was important to ask ‘Is it good for the kids?’ but it’s hard to know what you can do to make a difference. There are steps people can take, things they can do to make a difference, and we want to let people know that.”

In fact, Carrell believes that the best thing people can do to improve the community doesn’t cost a dime.

“If I could only change one thing, I’d make sure that every child was read to every night,” he said. “The impact that would make would be immense.”