Kelly discovered her passion of helping people when she was trained for a short time at our county’s 911 system as a dispatcher. After handling her first fatal accident over the emergency system, realized that she wanted to get involved even more. She wasn’t trained to be on the scene of emergencies so sought out other avenues of helping people. Participating in raising funds to help local agencies help others seemed to be her fit more than anything.

This avenue turned out to be Kelly’s calling. Since 1999, our local United Way has close to doubled in size financially, as well as forming many partnerships with government, schools, businesses and agencies.

The St. Joseph County United Way has an active Youth Leadership Council, consisting of students in each of 8 high schools in the county, where we teach them the importance of community service and getting involved in the community programs.

She is currently president of the Sturgis Kiwanis Club, where she co-chairs the youth services committee. She is also co-chair of the Kiwanis and Elk’s Boots and Shoes Program.

Kelly is past-president of the 100 plus member Three Rivers Rotary Club.

Kelly assisted with the C.A.R.E. Program in Indiana, Children Are The Resources of Elkhart and ASIA IN US, an interactive display sponsored by the Indiana Humanities Council.

She has also been involved in many local programs including the countywide effort for the car seat check-ups, assisting with the defibrillator fund drive and coordinating the September 11th Remembrance. She also served as the treasurer of the county’s DARE program.

Kelly was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for First National Bank and chairs the Trust Committee. She is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce in both Three Rivers and Sturgis.

In 2005, Kelly was selected by the Western Michigan Business Review Team as one of the most influential women in southwest Michigan, serving with others such as Judith Bailey, President of Western Michigan University.