Power for the Cause—Thrivent Financial Volunteer Excellence Award recipients talk about what drives their efforts, and why each cause is near and dear to their hearts.

For David Mitchler, volunteering is a way of life. It’s just what he does. Whether it’s a planned activity or a random act of kindness, Mitchler knows that his efforts can make a difference not only in his corner of the world, but across the globe.

“I want to help others; to make this a better place for everyone,” says Mitchler, a Thrivent Financial representative from Alpharetta, Georgia. “And when you’ve seen the faces of the people you’ve helped, it motivates you to continue.”

Mitchler grew up as a volunteer—participating in an array of church, school and community activities first as a youth and now as an adult. Today, his volunteer efforts fall into three main areas—youth activities, church projects and Habitat for Humanity. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see him helping out in other areas, especially with his Thrivent chapter—the North Fulton Chapter.

“Thrivent Financial not only gives me the opportunity to volunteer, but it also gets me excited about getting others involved,” Mitchler says. “It’s all about getting more people involved in making a difference.”

While he’s on the board of the local Wills Park Youth Baseball Association, Mitchler actually spends more time on the football and baseball fields as well as on the basketball court, coaching pre-teens not only in the skills of the game, but in skills for life.

And one of those skills is volunteerism. “I really believe it’s important to teach our youth to volunteer,” he says. “We do what we are taught, and children who learn to volunteer grow up to be adults who volunteer.”

Mitchler also is active at his church—Rivercliff Lutheran in Atlanta. He serves in a number of ways, but his biggest project by far the past three years has been his service in guiding a land acquisition project and future building campaign.

Habitat for Humanity has been a love of Mitchler’s for years as he participated in several local builds through his church and community organizations. Last year he had the opportunity to stretch his wings a little further as he was the only Thrivent Financial representative to participate on a Thrivent Financial work trip to Cluj, Romania, through the Thrivent Builds Worldwide program.

“It really helped me understand how blessed we are not just in the United States, but in the modern world, and why it is so important to help others,” Mitchler says. While the neatest thing, besides the work itself, in Romania was sharing the Word of God, he says, the next favorite on his list was sharing about volunteering.

“We take volunteering for granted here,” he says. “In Romania, they don’t volunteer. They’re not taught to help their neighbor.”

Mitchler wants others to understand that you don’t need special skills to be a volunteer. “Don’t paint yourself in a box,” he says. “Don’t think you can’t help because of X, Y, or Z. Everyone has the ability to help someone.”