Sharon Spurlin

Maybe someone can think up a new term to replace the word "nonprofit."

Sharon Spurlin kept coming back to that word when she talked about a lifetime of volunteer work with different groups. "I've never liked that word, 'nonprofit,'" she said, and she explained how philanthropy benefits the receiver, the giver, and the entire community.

Carroll County has certainly profited because of Sharon's efforts.

She is presently serving as Executive Director of the Carroll County Community Foundation. The CCCF has an endowment of almost two million dollars, and uses the interest from those funds to benefit local service groups.

And that gift will keep on giving, as new contributions come in to the endowment.

"This is such a generous community," Sharon said, and she has been as generous with her time as anyone. She taught high school for four years while her husband John went to dental school, but she had the luxury thereafter of not having to work outside the home.

After John finished school, he practiced in Springfield, where John and Sharon had attended Southwest Missouri State University. When John's family asked him to join the family practice in Berryville, the couple packed up and moved.

"I didn't know if I would like a small town, but this was a great place to raise children," Sharon said.

While the Spurlins' two children were growing up, Sharon became active through the United Methodist Church. The Rainbow School, now known as the Learning Center, began at the UMC, and Sharon worked with the board and others to raise money and find volunteers to build at the school's present location.

Her other volunteer roles are too numerous to list, but they include the Multi-Cultural Forum and the Ozark Guidance Center.

Sharon trained in communication through the church, and spent many year's with the church's Global Mission. She even went to Africa 20 years ago, and despite the "overwhelming scale of need" she saw there, she found her own way to respond.

"The cure is to get your feet moving, and just do something," she said. "And that's easier when you work with others."

Whether on a global or a local scale, Sharon receives an immediate reward from her efforts. "There's something about connecting with people that is one of the richest forms of learning," she said.

With her background in communications, becoming a life coach seemed a natural fit. She has worked with businesses, groups, individuals, and couples, although she is cutting back on her coaching lately.

When John died in 2003, Sharon considered relocating, to be closer to her mother in Springfield. But she found so much comfort here, and she learned ways to cope.

"The way you get through is to be grateful," she said. "We had 40 years together." 

A year later, Sharon shared an emotional moment with the community, when she accepted the Chamber's Distinguished Citizen award on John's behalf. "That was one of my fondest memories," she said. Since their grandchildren were so young when John died, "That will be something to help them remember him as someone respected and appreciated in his community."