“They needed clean water wells,” Angela said of her first Haitian mission trip in 2017.
It was the catalyst for the fundraising event she planned with her friend, Tamme Sutherland, upon their return. “The turnout from our two fundraisers was incredible; we raised $42,500 and were able to install 17 new clean-water wells in Haiti,” she said.
Angela Smoot is a Warrenton resident and Northern Virginia realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty. She and her husband, Zach, have been married for 23 years and have raised their two boys, Nathan, 21, and Shaun, 19, in Fauquier.
Angela was raised to be grateful and give back. “I realize that it is by the grace of God that I was born in this amazing country,” she said of her good fortunes. She works hard for what she has and recognizes that in some places, even hard work won’t result in good fortune. Sometimes, people just need a little help.
Fortunately, Angela loves to give back. “We are blessed and I feel we must lift others up and help people out,” she said.
Both she and Zach feel this so strongly, that they pursued adoption when they were building their family. “We originally looked at China for adoption, but they had a minimum age to adopt, so we were not eligible. A real estate client, who knew we were looking at adoption, told us about the need and opportunity to adopt from Taiwan. Our sons were both adopted from there. We adopted Shaun when he was 10 months old. Nathan, on the other hand, was already six. We were on the adoption list for a little girl when we were asked to host a young boy from Kidsave’s Summer Miracles program during the summer. He came for about five weeks to see the United States, and we just didn’t want him to leave. Once he returned to Taiwan, we began the adoption process to bring him back permanently,” she said.
Angela supports local efforts as well as international ones. To date, her fundraising events have raised over $100,000. “I believe people want to give, and sometimes you just have to provide them with an avenue for giving.”
Angela and Zach have traveled the world with their two sons to broaden their sense of the world, expand their horizons, and set a foundation for empathy and appreciation. |