Ringing through the room at the start of each morning before our summer reading program was a clear, encouraging, energetic voice – a teacher’s voice. Amy Kraft, a second-grade teacher in Fairfax, Virginia, doled out classroom savvy (a game of letter-sound hopscotch to work on consonant blends, bean bag tosses to practice letter sounds), and heart wisdom (daily Bible verses for our volunteers to carry with them) to our team of interns each day before their in-home reading program.

The recent addition to the Casa family found us by attending an interest meeting at a church she was visiting. Since then, she has jumped headfirst into service, attending Kids Club every week after closing out her own classroom for the year and helping to implement the entire summer reading program. “You are bringing hope and light and loving these kids. That makes a difference,” she told our reading intervention volunteers one morning. “You are being the salt and light of the world.”

Unwittingly, she was describing herself. For all these reasons, we name Amy Kraft our Volunteer of the Month. Thank you for your heart and your service, Amy!