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Elizabeth McKee was recently profiled in a video on the Website of the United Methodist church (www.umc.org) The video summarized McKee?s ministry in her own words: 'My major life hope is that we all become world neighbors again, good citizens, that we give back.' The following story accompanied the profile.

Elizabeth McKee, a member of Foundry UMC in Washington, and director of marketing for the UN Foundation, has had some interesting journeys so far in her young life.

'I had great parents that brought me up in the church. Had I not been, I still think I would have found it in my path somewhere. Sundays were always a day for our family to start the week, not to end it.'

A native of Texas, early on, she thought her life's work would be in animal science working 'with smelly cows.' But a chance to help a friend in college changed all that and started her on a life of service.

'A friend of mine had to drop out of college because she got pregnant, and there were not any childcare facilities at the university,' she said. She was challenged by a university administrator to raise the money to build a childcare center.

'We raised $360,000,' McKee said. That experience was an 'a-ha moment,' that taught her that volunteers and professionals working together could make a difference.

Joining the Peace Corps after college was the second pivotal experience of McKee?s life. She went to Bolivia as an agriculture marketing volunteer and helped build a corn cooperative. After witnessing how disadvantaged the women in the village were, she started a 'mother's club.'

'Just the ability for these women to have the power to speak to each other was huge,' she said.

After her stint with the Peace Corps she came back to the United States and was offered a job at the United Nations Foundation where she has become involved with the global anti-malaria campaign, Nothing But Nets.

The United Methodist Church is one of the partners along with the UN Foundation, the National Basketball Association's Cares Foundation, the American Red Cross, and others. She has traveled to Africa several times to deliver insecticide-treated bed nets that protect people from mosquitoes that carry the disease.

'Malaria has surpassed HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the number of infected,' she said. 'There are 500 million people infected with malaria.'

Seeing people living in poverty has not affected her faith. People often ask her why God has 'forgotten Africa.'

'I think we're all God's children no matter what our faith is, no matter what our beliefs are, our economic status. I think, we, as their brothers and sisters, have forgotten them.'

McKee is engaged and plans to be married in September.

'My personal hope is that I'll look back on life and will have been a very good wife, a good mother and that my career has always been based in a kind of ego-less environment of service.'

For more information on Nothing But Nets, the campaign to eradicate malaria in Africa, see:  NothingButNets.net