Joe Ley is a 24 year-old guy who is intent on making a difference. While working on a Masters Degree at Minnesota State Mankato in Communication Studies, he chose to take a non-profit leadership course, which led him to Cheerful Givers. Because Joe was eager to help Cheerful Givers with whatever was needed, he began by picking up boxes of donated toys and delivering them to a school where teens with disabilities put them into birthday bags.

Realizing he needed help, he turned to his friend Max about whom he says “My friend Max has a true servants’ heart and has been kind enough to come along on the deliveries and loan me his truck. There have been a couple of times as we drive and talk, that the reality of what we are doing hits us. We realize we are not just delivering a gigantic load of toys. We are helping deliver birthday bags that go to kids who otherwise wouldn’t get a birthday present.”

Joe also helped out recently at a Birthday Bag Blitz at the H.P. Fuller Company where employees filled 1,000 birthday bags, and he commented “ It is a pretty amazing  thought, when you stop and realize the impact the bags are having on those children. I think this is by far the most gratifying experience I’ve had; the fact that I’m a part of something bigger. I’m a part of an organization that is truly impacting the lives of children.”

In addition to volunteering for Cheerful Givers, Joe recently ran his first marathon which he said “was an incredible experience” and is involved with hockey Ministries. As part of his masters program, he is teaching public speaking in the under grad program and “absolutely loves it.”  In August, he married his best friend, Katie. As to the future, Joe says “Right now I’m  enjoying life, and letting the Lord lead me where he wants me.  I look forward to seeing where life goes, and where my time with Cheerful Givers takes me.”

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