Shari Coolbaugh

            Dr. Shari Coolbaugh is an optometrist in Roanoke, Virginia. In the past she has volunteered at the Free Health Clinic, Rescue Mission, Straight Street, and the Blue Ridge Center. She frequently goes on mission trips to all different types of places to help support people in need. In addition to that, Dr. Coolbaugh, along with her husband and four children, sponsors four children through a program called Compassion. She and her family try to go on at least one mission trip per year, and she usually incorporates her work into those trips.

            Dr. Coolbaugh dedicates a lot of her time to helping improve the places she travels to on her mission trips, including providing glasses for people who may have not even known that they had a vision impairment. “It’s so rewarding. I never get tired of it. I never want to stop, and the line of people waiting for glasses just keeps growing and growing. I always just hope there are enough good pairs for everyone,” she said. When discussing how she helps out, Dr. Coolbaugh is humble about what she does. “It’s just such a blessing. The people are by far my favorite part about the trips. Eating what they eat and meeting them, it changes you and the way you think. It broadens your scope,” Dr. Coolbaugh said. “It changes us more than them.”

            The Coolbaugh family sponsors two children from Rwanda, along with two others from Combo. When they sponsor a child they provide a certain amount of money per month for each child. Dr. Coolbaugh mentioned that children can’t get an education until they are sponsored by someone. When asked about her main goal to achieve by sponsoring the kids she said, “For them to have a relationship with God, to be able to provide for themselves and their families, and get an education.”

The first child Dr. Coolbaugh started sponsoring, named Rukundo, has graduated out of the Compassion program and now has a job as a tailor. When a child turns 21, they graduate out of the Compassion program, and no further communication services are provided. “We weren’t sure what had happened to him since he left the program. I was so excited when I heard from him. I was at work, and they called me out while I had a patient and said that I had to come to the phone for just a minute. I got to facetime Rukundo, and when he saw me on the camera he just put his head down and wept. I broke down in the middle of work and cried,” Dr. Coolbaugh said.

Dr. Coolbaugh is a passionate and dedicated person. Her work on mission trips and her charitable contributions to the children she sponsors makes a difference in many different places and many different lives. Her inspirational and ambitious attitude are what make Dr. Coolbaugh a Hidden Hero!