People to Meet: A Patch Series

. While it’s easy for most of us to say we want the best for our community, this fourth-grader knows what she would do to actually make it better.

After putting pen to paper and recording her vision, Ellen was named a regional winner in an that asks fourth graders what they would do for their community if they were mayor.

Over my past year at Patch, stories about people, like Ellen, have become my favorite. This is especially so, because those individuals are having a tangible impact on their community—or they have the potential to do so. Whether Ellen’s impact will be through a role as mayor, I don’t know. Like most 9-year-olds, she told me she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up.

But it became clear during our short interview and visit to that she is on a path to become one a real shining star—a mover and shaker, a leader, a go-getter.

A neighborhood molder.

Every community seems to have them.

Take Joe Smith, for example. A lover of reading, he didn't like that College Park lacked a library that is not associated with the University of Maryland, so he created one. The College Park Community Library .

, UMd. student Morgan Lash is readying for a year of community service in Prince George’s County, with a focus on our city. She plans to also have a special focus on working with children and education, and spreading her platform message of instilling a healthy body image among youth.

I’ve gathered stories about these and other inspirational people of College Park into a series called "People to Meet." I certainly hope that someday you get the chance to meet these people as I have, but in the meantime, find their stories here.

And email me with other tips about those who you find to be the most inspirational, impactful, wonderful human beings (or animals, for that matter) of College Park.