López DeMarco's Work Brings Communities Together "For a lot of business owners, being involved in the Latino Business Expo is a transformational experience," says Yolo López DeMarco, whose business—Yolo Vox—hosts Elkhart's annual Latino Business Expo (LBE). "There’s nothing wrong with a basic pop-up market, but…
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Inmates learning, growing through Lacasa's financial basics program “I think there are assumptions made about people who are incarcerated; that they are violent, or bad, or disrespectful people—and that’s not usually the case at all,” says Ashley Bowen, the Director of Client Empowerment for Lacasa…
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Young Volunteer Enjoys Quilt Garden Experience Carissa Renner—of Wakarusa—is always looking for opportunities to get her son Chad, 14, more active and involved in the community. So when she saw a social media post, several months ago, about opportunities to volunteer and help out with…
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Improving Elkhart County One Neighborhood at a Time "I’m the President of the Southdale Bridge Builders; we’re a nonprofit organization that represents and assists several different neighborhoods in Elkhart County," says Rick Newbill, our current spotlight volunteer. "One of the main goals of the Southdale…
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For Frank Ramirez, Volunteering is Living "I don't really have a favorite moment as a volunteer," says Frank Ramirez, Board President for the Nappanee chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County. "To me, one important thing about mentoring kids is that it's…
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The Small Town Big on Community Care “When you think of a small, rural Indiana community, we fit that description perfectly,” says MacKenzie Taylor, the Clerk Treasurer for the Elkhart County town of Millersburg. “We’re talking about a town of around 900 residents; that’s only…
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The Best Kind of Power Couple “I'm a terrible Minecraft partner—I could play that video game for 20 years straight and I’d still be just awful at it, but if that’s what one of the kids needs from me that’s what I’ll do,” says Goshen's…
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Indiana’s Largest Apple Pie, Made With Love “Nope, I know what you’re going to ask me and, no, I don’t make apple pie the rest of the year, and never, ever do I eat it,” says Mim Hartman, of Wakarusa, with a laugh. “Won’t touch…
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Helping Every Way He Can “I grew up in a part of Kansas that is known for volunteerism and service work, where people would help out at a local level and they’d also travel great distances to be of service to others,” says Billy Holdeman-Bass,…
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Trails and Treats Back For Year Two “Trails and Treats was something we decided to do last year to commemorate the upgrades we made to the Nappanee Art Path—we had a ton of people and it was just a wildly successful event,” says Brian Van…
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