VIRTUAL EMPLOYEES FIND CONNECTION BY VOLUNTEERING

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Annie Smith. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Annie Smith is the bridge that connects virtual employees with the power of volunteerism. As a senior business associate at Pacific Life, a life insurance company, Annie saw how challenging it was to build successful connections with her colleagues when all volunteering had to cease for safety reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world opened up again, nobody else was stepping up to spearhead the volunteer initiatives at her company’s branch. Already a seasoned volunteer, Annie understood that she would have to be the force to create momentum. She started slowly, organizing occasional volunteer events for herself and her coworkers. Her motivation lit the torch that started a movement of service.

Flash forward to 2026, and Annie is the community champion for Pacific Life’s Lynchburg site. Known for her tremendous ability to mobilize others for good, Annie organizes approximately two volunteer activities each month, dedicating an average of eight to twelve hours to planning, communication, coordination, and participation. Always one to ensure that she’s reaching a wide variety of needs, Annie has mobilized efforts for groups working toward causes ranging from food insecurity and animal welfare to environmental protection and health initiatives. While the company works virtually, Annie brings her teammates together in person in the spirit of service. She believes these experiences foster teamwork, relationship-building, and a stronger sense of community, bettering the team both professionally and personally. Her efforts have certainly paid off: in 2025, Annie logged almost 150 volunteer hours and played a critical role in coordinating 36 volunteer events. But it goes beyond Annie, too. She’s brought her neighbors, her children, her family, and their friends to events the Pacific Life team has volunteered for. With each person Annie encourages to participate in service, she’s creating a chain of volunteerism that has exponential potential.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

Pacific Life encourages employees to volunteer and to bring friends and family along to volunteer, and I’m the community champion for the Lynchburg site. During COVID, all of the group volunteering had to cease. In 2022, we opened back up to have team events again, and employees were encouraged to volunteer. At the same time, I didn’t see anybody stepping up to organize an event for volunteers to join and volunteer in the community. I started with just trying to get one or two events out there, reaching out to nonprofit organizations around our area.

What inspires you to volunteer?

It gives me a sense of purpose. I keep saying that the organizations are already doing the hard part. I’m just lending a hand. At some point in life, we all need a hand. This is something that I can do. It could be 30 minutes or an hour to see how much of a difference it makes. It’s just so heartwarming. Even though I organize all these events, I’m at pretty much all of them too, because I believe in leading by example.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Pacific Life.

I try to have events organized and set up at least two months in advance. This allows employees to look at their schedules and see if that’s something that they can commit to or not. I reach out to the organizations, see what types of events or needs they may have, and how we can contribute. We can help with pretty much anything. It could be an event like a 5K. We could serve at a local soup kitchen or pack meals and serve the community. It could be for the American Cancer Society. We are open and ready to help where we can.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

As part of setting up the opportunities, I try to make it as inclusive as possible and to appeal to as many people as possible. My goal is to continue doing this as long as I can, because not only are we supporting our own community, you directly see the need and how you’re impacting and helping each other. It’s connecting with other people in the community who want to lend a hand. Yes, it starts as Pacific Life, but I’ve brought along my neighbors, my kids, my family, and their friends.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I think the most rewarding thing is to see how such a small act can have a huge impact on the people we’re helping in our community, and that impact of connection with those who want to help. Especially in this world we’re living in today, which is very virtual. Pacific Life is virtual, but we do still have a large pool of employees here. I encourage these volunteer events as a way to connect in person with your teammates or other folks that are in this office that you may not even know.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I’ve learned so much about empathy, patience, adaptability, and teamwork. But it’s also the deeper understanding of the challenges that others face and the power of our community support.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

I always tell people to reach out to me anytime. Folks may not even know what it is they want to volunteer for yet, but they just need to start small and start where they can. I think the hardest part is just committing to an activity. After that, it’s fun. I think most people don’t realize that volunteering can actually be fun.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

As people, we need connection. I know I’ve said this before, but we are living in such a virtual world. We still need that connection, and our connection to our community where we live. If we support our community, it only makes it stronger. Connecting with those who need our help, or connecting with others who can help, allows you to provide that help to our community.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Annie? Find local volunteer opportunities.