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Impacting the Community through Heartfelt Service

By Carolyn Lillehaugen

The simple starfish necklace around Kristi Huber’s neck provides a glimpse of the vision she has for making a difference in the world. The necklace reminds her of a beloved story. “An old man walked up a shore littered with thousands of starfish, beached and dying after a storm. A young woman was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean. ‘Why do you bother?’ the old man scoffed, ‘You’re not saving enough to make a difference.’ The young woman picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water. ‘Made a difference to that one,’ she replied.”

Making a difference seems to be part of the very fiber of Huber’s being. Growing up on a farm near Elbow Lake, Minnesota, Huber naturally learned the foundational skills of hard work, accepting responsibilities and giving back as she watched her parents Bob and Connie Ehlers and her sister Shelle model those qualities. Whether picking weeds from the soybean field wet with dew, participating in Campfire Girls, or inviting neighbors out for lunch after church, Huber and her family worked together to demonstrate the values of authenticity, trustworthiness and generosity, thus letting small actions impact their community in a positive way. It was also during these early years that Huber developed a natural friendliness and her sense of storytelling as a way of connecting with people. She loved talking with anyone and would cheerfully entertain the neighbors with her colorful renditions of The Price is Right’s Bob Barker or quips of wisdom she attributed to their neighbor Jean Haraldson.