A Heart for Service

A Lilly scientist, David Raches has a heart for service. Most of his volunteer work has focused on a community he’s familiar with—his own. That is until he stepped off a plane in Salvador, Brazil, in June 2012. As a Lilly ambassador with Connecting Hearts Abroad, David stepped into an unfamiliar, underserved community far outside his comfort zone. That’s when his life changed in ways he could not have foreseen.

“Before Connecting Hearts Abroad, I had been an individualist. I worked and lived in my comfort zone—doing things the way I wanted to do them. I was content to be in the lab, on the bench, every day—guiding my work and career. About 80 percent of my work was self-directed and I was happy with that.”

Then David arrived in Salvador.

“The experience was very humbling. It left me with a strong desire to do more to serve others around me—at home, at work, and in the community. Life became about stepping out of my comfort zone and building lasting relationships with people.”

Read how two weeks in Salvador had a life-long impact on David.