Katie Lee

An attorney specializing in public interest law with organizations like the Center for Disability Law & Policy and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Katie Lee has always tried to do good work. For the past two years, however, some of the work she's most proud of has nothing to do with law.

As a volunteer with Hope4KidZ, Inc., Lee is charged with recruiting others like her to help orphaned children. So now, instead of preparing briefs or responding to judicial requests, Lee is building her first MySpace page and worrying where the organization's website should be hosted.

It's not work that comes easily or naturally for Lee, who describes her role there as jumping into "the deep end of the pool." But she's enjoying every minute of it.

Hope4KidZ believes that children in state foster care deserve to be safer than they were before they were removed from their homes, and the organization educates foster children and their caretakers about their rights.

Although it's incorporated in Houston, Hope4KidZ's service area is "virtual" and volunteers like Lee, who lives in Maryland, are scattered around the country. They share one thing in common: the desire to help those who are less fortunate.

"Foster children, who are often teetering in limbo, are one of the most vulnerable groups and forgotten groups in our society," Lee said. "I've heard the horror stories, so I was very interested in getting involved and learning more. And as volunteer coordinator, I have an amazing opportunity to do that because I need to understand how the organization works, from top to bottom, in order to know our staffing needs."

Lee first became involved with Hope4KidZ while recovering from a serious illness. "I wasn't quite ready to return to work full time but I didn't want to just sit around all day doing nothing," she said.

After registering with VolunteerMatch, she responded to an opportunity about working with Hope4KidZ.

She was quickly contacted by Joanna Wright, the organization's founder.

"We somehow managed to understand exactly what the other was looking for," said Lee. "The rest, as they say, is history!"