The Miami Valley is a compassionate community, full of people who help each other in big and small ways every day.

In today’s Morning Briefing, we take an in-depth look at the people we call “Community Gems.” We started this program to honor those who give back to improve the lives of others.

If you have thoughts or feedback on this newsletter or other news tips, please let me know at Greg.Lynch@coxinc.com.

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The newsletter should take about 3 minutes, 15 seconds to read.

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About the “Community Gems”initiative

• Making the community better: The series highlights people who make the community better and through their small acts add positivity and goodwill throughout the region.

• Telling great stories: “The Dayton area is full of people who are doing great things to help others in their community. We want to tell their stories that have gone unnoticed. Our Community Gems initiative brings light to the great efforts in Dayton and surrounding communities,” said Dayton Daily News Managing Editor Rich Gillette.

• Reader nominations: The Community Gems initiative is driven by reader nominations. Readers Nominated community members, friends, family members, or coworkers and shared with us how they help others or something in your community.

• Find the stories: We have a page dedicated to the “Community Gems” project where you can find a catalog of our past stories.

Get to know some of our most recent “Community Gems”

The children that Lexxie Arnold works with at KIND often come from around the world, from places like Congo, Tanzania, Mexico and Guatemala.

• Kids in New Directions: Arnold is the new executive director of Kids in New Directions, an inner-city faith-based afterschool program for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

• KIND: Kids in New Directions is free for kids and operates Monday through Thursday during the school year, while also offering camps during the summer. The nonprofit program offers academic assistance, field trips and Bible classes for all who attend.

• Her background: Arnold, who grew up in Huber Heights, has a background in social work, human resources and program management. But she wanted a job with a focus on faith.

• What they say about her: “When she walks into a room, there’s an energy that comes with her...She wants to understand the stories and the journeys that the kids have been through,” said Silvian Rosario, a KIND board member.

After 28 years in the corporate world, Alan Schussheim is “finding opportunities to give back” by volunteering.

• After retirement: “Once I retired, it was like ‘Okay, how do you give back? What’s your encore?” said Schussheim. “Giving back is really what it’s all about.”

• Volunteering: In 2018, Schussheim began volunteering with the Red Cross’ disaster response team. In 2019, he joined SCORE, an organization that pairs small businesses with experienced mentors for free. He is also a volunteer SCUBA diver for the Newport Aquarium, and, most recently, is a volunteer zipline and rock climbing instructor for the Miami County Park District

• On the road: Driving an emergency response vehicle, Schussheim has been across the country, including Florida, New Orleans, and North Carolina, often delivering food door to door. Earlier this year, he also went to Indian Lake to help tornado victims.

• Connecting nonprofits: Schussheim helped launch DaytonServes.org, which connects over 400 nonprofits in the Dayton area in need of volunteers with interested people. The website seeks to emphasize small, neighborhood charities as much as it does larger ones

• His mantra: “I guess my mantra is: you don’t want your epitaph to be how much you saved the corporation.”