When Kara Wehmeyer helped found the Calvary Lutheran High School's SADD chapter and organize the Key Club's blood drive, it was more than altruism.
As an EMT and firefighter candidate with the Holts Summit Fire Protection District, Wehmeyer has seen the need first-hand.
As a little girl, she would sit in the car with her older brother when her parents were called out to volunteer with the district. As she grew older, she would serve as their "practice dummy" for trainings.
By age 12, she was part of the Explorer Program assisting the fire department and now she is part of the current candidate class to become an actual firefighter.
"I see the correlation - I work with students to help them wear their seatbelts and not make destructive decisions," Wehmeyer said. "But I also work with those who don't listen to that advice."
As a student at the small parochial school, Wehmeyer has enjoyed taking up leadership opportunities and being a role model.
"She has been the most proactive student leader with whom I have ever worked, constantly looking for the next big project and not shying away from responsibility," said instructor Denise Crider.
Her freshman year leadership service class was instrumental in showing Wehmeyer that support is out there for those who step up.
"If you're a go-getter, you can make things happen," Wehmeyer said. "You can't just hope they happen; you've gotta make things happen."
An athlete, too, Wehmeyer is involved in nearly every activity offered at the growing school.
"I prioritize," Wehmeyer said. "It's fun to get involved and I like to help others."
Volunteering at the soup kitchen in Holts Summit with her church, Grace Lutheran, Wehmeyer said she values the expression of joy on people's faces.
"You don't have to do that much to make people happy," she said. "I think that's what really gets me."
When responding with the fire district, she tries equally to make the situation better for those involved.
Prayer and devotion help her keep going.
As Key Club president last year, Wehmeyer challenged each of the 35 members to donate a unit of blood or find a volunteer to do so. Following the heart attack of a Calvary teacher, the club's blood drive turned into a three-day event collecting more than 100 units of blood.
"We tripled our goal; that inspired me to take on more leadership," Wehmeyer said.
With the school's building addition completed, Wehmeyer hopes to see ongoing blood drives at the school.
"Something as simple as giving blood can help others," she said.
As a sophomore, Wehmeyer was a charter member of the SADD chapter, which earned the first 100 percent seatbelt use from the Mid-Missouri area in the Battle of the Belt competition. They have repeated that the last two years.
But Wehmeyer said she wanted to reach out more, to learn what other schools were doing.
So she helped with the Missouri Youth-Adult Alliance state conference and then was accepted as a member of the SADD National Student Leadership Council.
It was there she learned about SADD Shines Day, a way to build self-esteem as a means of suicide prevention. She hopes this program might also become a recurring activity at the school, beyond her time there.
At the heart of all of her involvements is servant leadership, a trait Wehmeyer looks forward to using at the college level.
She intends to study athletic training at Truman State University, Kirksville.
She likes serving as an EMT, but hopes some day to work with a single group she can get to know well.
"It has connected what I love; it's a perfect career," Wehmeyer said.