David Lathrop
Vehicle Purchasing Service

Dave Lathrop of Vehicle Purchasing Service has been active in the community shortly after moving to the Phoenix area in 1986. While Dave has participated with and raised money for several non profits including The Multiple Sclerosis Society, Alex's Lemonade Stand and The Adopt a Greyhound Agency, Dave's primary focus has been working with Phoenix area youth. Dave has been a long time Big Brother in the Central Arizona Chapter of the Big Brother Big Sister program. He has served as a mentor for 5 young men and his contribution to the organization was recognized when he was named Big Brother of the Year in 2004. Dave has also been involved with other youth organizations and he trained adults to mentor at risk youth for nearly 10 years. He also facilitated classrooms and taught young people critical thinking skills and goal directed behavior. In 2000 Dave joined Team in Training and supported that program by running marathons and fund raising for over 18 months with the proceeds going to fight Leukemia, Lymphoma and blood related cancers. In 2008 Dave helped start a marathon training program for Big Brother Big Sisters called Marathon for Kids Sake and that program has gone on to be a major fund raiser for that organization. Also in 2008 Dave founded Be the Difference Mentoring. This is an organization committed to training civic minded individuals to be effect mentors/coaches for young people who face challenging circumstances. Dave actively looks for ways to contribute to his community ongoingly.

Carole Weishaar
Access Travel Services

Carole Weishaar is a cancer survivor and her passion for life is also evident in her continued community leadership roles. Carole currently serves as the Founder, treasurer, community outreach liaison and past President of the Desert Cancer Foundation of Arizona. She is an American Cancer Society legislative advocate for uninsured women in the state of Arizona, a liaison to the National Breast Cancer Coalition, past president of Soroptimist International of the San Tans, an international women’s service organization, a volunteer for Race for the Cure and an advocate for women through her work with a domestic violence taskforce.

In 2002, Carole received certification for grant writing from the University of Arizona and Just Grants Arizona program to secure the monies needed for a mammogram screening pilot program designed to benefit low income and uninsured women in Arizona. Currently, she is working with health care organizations in Arizona to secure additional funding to continue and expand this program. This collaborative effort resulted in new grant funding the past years to provide life saving screenings and diagnostics for low income women in culturally diverse communities.

Jake Ulrich
M&I Bank

Jake Ulrich of M&I Bank in Mesa, Arizona feels that community involvement should be a part of every individual’s life in some way. Jake has been involved with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Arizona Animal Welfare Shelter, and St. Mary’s Food Bank with a very active role in Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley. He has mentored 2 little brothers since 2007 and currently has a “little” out of Ahwatukee.
Since his start with the Boys and Girls Clubs in 2006 Jake leads a 6 week financial education seminar at some of the local Boys & Girls Clubs to the teen groups in hopes of building a financial foundation for upcoming youth. He also is a Co-Chairman of a Bon Vivant Annual Charity event that continues to raise over $100,000 per year for the Clubs in the East Valley.
The best piece of advice he can offer is to just get involved. Get involved in something you enjoy or something you are passionate about. You have to schedule time to make a difference. Even if it is a few times per year you will have an impact on somebody else’s life as well as enrich your own.”