Kelli and Micah Fagala

Kelli and Micah Fagala are devoted to combating homelessness and hunger. Kelli has raised more than $25,000 for a new facility for homeless families in Union County, N.C. through talent shows, dinners, raffles and love offerings. She also secured a grant through Leon Levine Foundation. Her efforts have already helped her get 20 percent towards her goal of $125,000

Micah started a food pantry at Benton Heights Presbyterian Church and is feeding more than 45 families every month and has impacted more than 175 families since the food pantry began in September.

Together they have raised awareness through newspaper articles, television appearances and events. They feel a special call to help others and will not stop until enough has been raised to build homes for their homeless neighbors.

Micha started a food pantry at Benton Heights Presbyterian Church which feeds more than 45 families each month. She’s impacted the lives of more than 175 families since the food pantry began. The sisters raise awareness for their caueses through local press, TV appearances and events. Their selfless devotion to their community makes them both Daily Points of Light.

Keith Lee

Keith Lee has lived in three of the biggest cities in the United States: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Each city is uniquely diverse in resources, citizens and geography, but he found that the hearts of the American people are similar and filled with compassion to serve one another. Lee had the importance of service instilled in him at an early age by his mother and local community. The community surrounded his single mother with compassion and support.

Years later while still in high school, Lee remembers riding a bus filled with eager community members to the state capital to join a protest and lobby for change in the school system addressing achievement gaps, resource allocation and more. After 600 miles, long days, and a lot frustration, nothing happened. He understood that change was gradual, but something had to be done.

At 16-years-old he began to tutor at an after school program to elementary and middle school students in the areas of math, science and reading. He became a peer mentor to a youth at a community center, visited soup kitchens and volunteered as a videographer filming community events. In 2008, he extended his volunteer commitment to make a personal pledge to volunteer 72 hours a month. Three years later, his pledge became a lifestyle as he served as an Americorps member at West Suburban PADS in Maywood, Ill. Lee is a big believer in by sharing talents and time unselfishly the community becomes strong and is able to function better.

Tracy Thomas

Natasha Colkmire

On April 27, 2011 the small town of Ringgold, Ga. was torn apart by an F-4 tornado. Natasha Colkmire and her family came face to face with the large storm and braced themselves for impact beneath the crawl space of their house, praying for their own safety and the safety of their neighbors.

When the storm finally passed and Colkmire’s family assessed the damage they saw in their community it was like nothing they had ever seen before. Even though their house was still intact, their community was mangled as if it was just a piece of paper that had been balled up and thrown away. The next few days, weeks and months were completely devoted to restoring their community. They helped cut down trees, remove debris, provide warm meals and pray for the emotional and physical healings of their neighbors and friends. Colkmire believes you can always find something good out of the bad and that’s what her community did following the devestating tornados.

Karen Groves

Zachary Watson

Peggy Flynn

Peggy Flynn feels fortunate to have grown up in a family where both her parents valued the importance of volunteering in the community. She was one of seven children, and now looking back as a mother herself, realizes how much time and energy her parents devoted to providing for their family.

Reading was another big part of Flynn’s life and she happily studied journalism at George Washington University where she was surrounded by voracious readers interested in all aspects of life. Not being able to read was something that never even crossed her mind. A few years after college, Flynn started working as a volunteer literacy tutor for local Vietnamese and Cambodian communities. It was an eye opening experience as she realized how difficult it was for adults to learn a new language and the difficulties associated with relying on children as inerpreters and the isolation of a new culture. She also saw how much her students value education – they treated her with so much respect and were so grateful for her willingness to teach them.

Volunteering, specifically working with literacy, is a big part of Flynn’s life. For more than thirty years she has been devoted to helping others gain important language skills. She knows that once you can read, the world opens up to you in so many ways.

Shannon Zoet

My Turning Point: Service as a Lifestyle

By Shannon Zoet

As long as I can remember, my family has been instilling a spirit of service in me. Though nobody ever used that phrase, looking back, I know that is what I was learning. My parents and grandparents have always modeled a lifestyle that showed me that service is not just about those flashy one-day events we all love, but rather, it’s an ongoing process of supporting others with your time and talents.

I always knew that this type of ever-present service would be a part of my life, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I could make a career of it. My personal turning point came several months after I graduated from college. I had a degree in Communications and went to work at a publishing house where I was asked to promote books that had no meaning to my life. I knew I would not last in a job that didn’t play to my personal passions, so I left that position to join AmeriCorps.

After two years of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I knew I was on the right path. I knew that a career in the nonprofit sector—inspiring others to serve and supporting the infrastructure for widespread service—was how I wanted and needed to spend my energy. I earned an advanced degree in nonprofit leadership, and I now work for Michigan Campus Compact (part of the Michigan Nonprofit Association), supporting colleges and universities to promote public and community service and develop students’ citizenship skills. I am proud to be part of an organization that is helping to cultivate current and future leaders of service.

I have not only chosen to make a career in the service sector, but I continue to exercise the spirit of service my family instilled in me as a child. Rather than focus my time on one or two volunteer opportunities by dedicating myself to a particular cause or passion, I have chosen, for now, to spread my energy as wide as possible. I look for small opportunities to serve others in everyday life; I serve on the board of my local Young Nonprofit Professionals Network to encourage the growth and success of the service sector in my community; I ask how I can serve the people and organizations I care about, and then I show up wherever and whenever I can.

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