Q: Where were you raised, and what brought you to the Dayton area?
A: I was raised in London, Ohio, and attended the University of Dayton, which is what originally brought me to the Dayton area back in 2006. My lovely wife, Chelsey, was raised in Fishers, Indiana. We met in La Crosse, Wisconsin, while training for the same company. I pursued Chelsey for a couple of weeks before she eventually agreed to a first date. We continued dating even as she moved on to the Chicago market, and I moved back to Dayton. As our love grew stronger and her love for traffic grew weaker, Chelsey made the move to the Miami Valley and the rest is history.
We are happily married and employed here, and look forward to planting our roots deeper within the community. In fact, Chelsey and I are expecting our first child. We are beyond excited for this blessing and to expand our family within this great community. We will learn from our past, enjoy every moment of the present, and look to a hopeful and bright future. We are so happy and excited to bring new life into this world!
Q: What inspires you about the Greater Dayton community?
A: The revival we are currently seeing inspires us. Revival in infrastructure, communities, people, and most importantly, faith.
Q: What drives you to give both your time and dollars to charity?
A: Our faith absolutely drives our charity. We have been taught through word and example to help others with our overflow of blessings. We have been blessed with physically healthy bodies, time (including the freedom to choose how we use that time), and employment that allows us to not only earn the necessary income for our family's needs, but also to tithe/offer financially as we are led.
Q: What nonprofit organizations or causes do you care about most?
A: We care most about Christian ministries and other faith-based outreach organizations. It is important that the organizations and causes align appropriately with our God-given morals and values. A couple of examples would include Self-Evident Ministry, WakeWell, Bible Study Fellowship, The New Path, Inc., and our local church, Ginghamsburg Church.
Q: How did you first learn about The Dayton Foundation?
A: Our financial planner introduced us to The Dayton Foundation. He, of course, explained the financial benefits of using the Foundation's services, but he also shared his personal testimony of working with the Foundation. It was an easy sell after that conversation.
Q: How does The Dayton Foundation help you help others?
A: The Dayton Foundation makes it easy to help others. We use The Dayton Foundation to receive our tithes and offerings on a monthly basis and then appropriate those funds to multiple ministries and organizations as we are led. Again, we are blessed with able bodies, time and earned income, and The Dayton Foundation helps us donate a portion of our earned income to help others through the many gracious organizations we are called to work with.
Q: Why is helping others so important to you?
A: Helping others is important to us because we are taught to do so through scripture and graciously were given the perfect example of love to follow. Our parents and grandparents also have been a positive inspiration with regards to helping others.
Q: What advice can you share about giving to the community?
A: Give as you are led, with peace of mind and from your heart. Also, give as an individual to help fellow man as you are called. Giving to a single entity to distribute as that entity sees fit, without transparency, would not be good advice.
Q: How would you complete this sentence, “My giving makes me feel____”?
A: … humble. We feel blessed beyond what we deserve. Giving from our overflow of blessings is what we are called to do.
The Dayton Foundation has been helping people help others since 1921 by managing charitable funds, awarding grants to nonprofits and launching community initiatives. Contact the Foundation at (937) 222-0410 or visit www.daytonfoundation.org.
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