A fantastically run organization who aim to be truly integrated with the communities they serve. Offering projects covering a wide range of interests and disciplines. The volunteering trips are well organized with great group leaders and the trips provide a good balance of service work and exploration opportunities. Would definitely recommend this organization for those looking for a different way to travel and great opportunities to serve!
I had a great time with Ms. Vanessa! We helped repair and paint a youth campground. All the volunteers were happy to be together working and playing. We built a new soccer field and went canoeing at sunrise. I love working to support my community. Thank you Led2Serve for the opportunity.
We joined led2serve about a year ago. We absolutely love these phenomenal ladies and all they do for the community! We look forward to many more opportunities to volunteer with them.
I will never forget the experience we had participating in a Serve/Play Day at Hacienda Rio Cote with the led2serve team a couple years ago in the area of Arenal, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
From the first moments as we sat down together to breakfast with a group of people we had never met, we were instantly welcomed, hugged and made to feel part of the team.
We were immediately impressed with the profoundly organized and motivated leaders, (not to mention their cooking skills!) in an area where even the most adventurous encounter all manner of challenge from finding a cylinder of gas to cook with, much less a kitchen equipped to serve a team of hungry teens.
Equipped to serve, led to love, share, and expand the hearts and minds of everyone she meets; the only thing better than knowing Vanessa is knowing how many lives she will touch every day that will truly make a difference - one gracious act at a time.
I have joined led2serve in their support role for Young Life and other camps. Vanessa Puleo is an exemplary leader with exceptional organization skills.
What distinguishes led2 serve is its focus on servant leadership. Vanessa embodies that spirit and has the ability to instill that in those who join her in these missions. Anyone who has enjoyed that spirit knows that one often returns from these events feeling that they gained more than they helped others. led2serve is an outstanding example of an organization that overachieves its mission.
There’s only one led2serve! - It Stole My Heart and Will Steal Yours Too!
Picture this… one week, all logistics taken care of (food, travel, stay), alluring scenery, the experience of another culture, AMAZING journey leaders, fellowship, adventure of your choosing, and most importantly; getting the chance to enhance the life(s) of the people you serve in led2serves partner locations... Do you feel it? Can you picture it?
I promise you one thing, if you are looking for the opportunity to add to the bigger picture of this thing we call life. If you are wanting to experience something outside of everyday routines and just get away for a while. If you’re just looking to travel and experience parts of the world/US while creating friendships and memories. Led2serve is your ticket to it all!
I have been fortunate enough to go on several journeys with led2serve, and it will not be my last! You purchase your journey and you’re done. The organization of this company is phenomenal, from arrival to departure this team of journey leaders and coordinators take care of you in so many fashions. No worry, no stress, the team equips you with everything you could possibly need so that you can have the greatest experience. It is a laid back crew that is driven by the saying “work hard, play hard”, and to be honest, the work is just as fun as the play.
In fact, it is the work that is going to make your trip the most memorable and life changing. You see, the people and places that you go to, they love you without even knowing you. Before you step foot in their presence you are sincerely loved by them. Led2serve connects you with those in need of a little help. Meaning two things, connection to the physical act of serving, and connection to the heart of you and those that you’re helping. I can tell you my first journey is as vivid in my mind as the day I experienced it, and that, that is because it stole my heart. You may think that planting a tree, painting a school, or playing sports with kids are just good deeds to add to your list, but the people in these partner locations think the small or big acts that you are providing are absolute blessings. The gratitude and genuine appreciation from these people is felt, not just heard. That feeling alone will change your life; add in the culture, the adventure and the fellowship while creating lasting memories and a journey with led2serve with steal your heart just like it stole mine.
All of this just takes one thing… a heart to serve.
Kamie Rash
I started working with the Led2Serve Group about 4 years ago and have always been very pleased with there work. We are a Military School (St. John's in Salina, KS) that have young men from the 6th grade thru the 12th grade, so we kind of a unique group to work with, but Venessa and Yolanda and there team do a wonderful job of putting together two (2) mission trip per year for me. One on our Thanksgiving Break and the other on our Spring Break They put trip together for us that is a combination of community service and some fun time, which is quite the task, when you are trying to plan for up to 15 boys at Thanksgiving and up to 30 at Spring Break, and these number can change right up to the minute we leave our school. But I Never have to worry about anything, as I know that they have planned out everything for us, from where we will stay to when we eat on where, to what time we need to get up every morning. Which makes my life so easy. For me one of the best parts of this organization (beside the people that run it) is that they stay very flexible and are ready to handle any kind of problem that might come up. I have the greatest respect for the Led2Serve Team and would (and do) recommend them to any group. As I will continue to use them for all my mission trips.
Fr. Randy McIntosh, Chaplain, St. Jon's Military School
The opportunity to join a led2serve journey approached me in the fall of 2024. As Dr. Cummings explained the purpose and mission statement and the projects that they are involved in I was immediately hooked.I joined a February trip with a few others from my school in Salinas Kansas. My expectations were exceeded in more than one way and continued to be exceeded everyday that I spent with the members of my team. Work hard, play hard is exactly how we spent our week. I have made connections with people I am sure to keep for the rest of my life. I truly found myself as a person and cannot thank the members of my team enough! They are all amazing people with huge hearts and together we made a difference in the lives of others! The trip couldn't have been scheduled and planned any better than it was and I have to thank Vanessa and Dr. Cummings for their work and efforts to make sure the trip went that way! What am amazing way to serve the Lord! When can I go again?!
A year ago Florida Southern College partnered with Led2Serve to send students to Germany and discover more information about their major while volunteering with Led2Serve. Working with Led2Serve in Germany made the trip life changing for me. Both Vanessa and Dr. Cummings were very passionate about working with the different schools which made us (the students) excited to work with everyone. Communication was difficult for some of us at first but playing games with the children immediately broke the barrier and brought us closer together.
The friendships that were built in Germany still remain today. I am thrilled to go to Costa Rica with Vanessa and Dr. Cummings and Led2Serve during the month of July. I will always have Led2Serve in my life and will volunteer when ever I have the chance to. It is a great experience that I would recommend to everyone.
Led2Serve is AWESOME! I went with a group of students from my university to Costa Rica over spring break in March of 2013. We went to three different communities: La Fortuna, Nueva Arenal, and Santa Teresa. While we were there we worked on several projects including, re-roofing a school building, helping members of the community to build a fences surrounding the school yard, painting benches and dugouts around a football/soccer field, and restoring seating and tables in a gathering area for members of the community. When you volunteer with Led2Serve, you live by the words "serve hard, play hard." We had an amazing time working with each other and the community as well as bonding with each other and the AMAZING Led2Serve leaders and founders Nancy and Vanessa. Volunteering with Led2Serve was an incredibly rewarding experience and I look forward to working with them again in the future. Pura Vida!
I received the opportunity to go to Costa Rica with led2serve this past February and had a life altering experience. If your interested in simply building community and relationships with people who enjoy impacting others, led2serve is where you belong. I've always been interested in nonprofit work, but never had the chance to dive full force into an organization and completely capture the vision. They truly do equip,inspire, and mobilize others to get out there and serve however they feel 'led to serve'. They live up to the saying 'serving without boundaries' very well. People who join journeys don't have to worry about skin color, race, religion, or gender! I have joined led2serve on National and International journeys and can honestly say for the rest of my life I will continue to walk alongside led2serve.
Led2Serve worked in partnership with my university to deliver an awesome alternative spring break trip. The motto: Work Hard, Play Hard fits perfectly with the stuctrure of our service journey. Vanessa and Nancy did an amazing job setting up service porjects that perfectly fit our groups needs and expectations. Working in and among the community provided the opportunity to serve, but it also gave us a window into the world of local Costa Ricans. I think the most amazing part of this journey was the relationships I began building with people from the communities - children and adults alike!
While the service was the number one higlight of my trip, I would have to say ziplining through the jungle canopy, and hiking on the hanging bridges was my number two highlight. Like I said, Work Hard, Play Hard. I makes sense!
If you are looking for an organization that provides sustainable service to local communities, a trip of a lifetime, and the opportunity for adventure look no further than Led2Serve!
I went to Costa Rica with Led2Serve for a study abroad trip with Florida Southern during spring break. Vanessa Puleo and Nancy Cummings were great leaders and had awesome events and things planned for us. This experience was truly life-changing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We did a lot of volunteer work and manual labor, but none of it ever felt like work. And each day when we were finished, we were treated to other great opportunities to interact with the locals and get a real feel for Costa Rican life. This trip and the trip leaders made me want to MOVE to Costa Rica. It was an incredible experience and I'd love to tell anyone about it and I highly recommend taking a journey with led2serve!
I joined led2serve for an international service trip to Costa Rica in the summer of 2012. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish! Leaders engaged volunteers in meaningful service projects that utilized each person's skills and abilities. We were able to build some pretty amazing relationships and I was challenged to expand my comfort zone and try new things. The best part for me, as a working mom of three, was being able to relax and let someone else make all the plans and worry about the details. For an entire week, my focus wasn't me and my to-do list. It was about serving, connecting and enjoying new friends and new experiences! I came back refreshed, re-energized, and incredibly appreciative of my service experience!
If you are looking for an organization to create meaningful service experiences for you and your family, led2serve is the one to be connected with! Our family has been on multiple service oriented journeys with led2serve in the past 3 years and we plan to attend many more in the future! Serving Without Boundaries means we can serve with our young children, with people of many backgrounds, in different locations, and in ways that we feel led2serve! Projects for all skill and age levels are available and after each journey, we come away satisfied knowing that even the youngest or oldest of us was able to contribute positively to that community! Join a journey! You will be amazed!
I've volunteered on several journeys with Led2Serve locally and nationally and each of them were amazing. Regardless of your skill set, its almost like the journey leader miraculously finds a task that's perfect for you. When you volunteer for a journey with them, initially you're doing it to help and make a difference in the lives of others; however, at the end of the journey, the biggest difference is in you. You come away feeling like you've been mentored during the experience and your confidence has received a much needed boost. You accomplish tasks would have never attempted or thought you were capable of doing. I would and do recommend Led2Serve to anyone looking to volunteer/serve others. Led2Serve is a great inclusive organization that anyone from all walks of life can participate and come away knowing they have made a difference no matter how big or small a part they feel they've played.
My son and I have had the extreme pleasure of serving locally and internationally with Led2Serve. Their vision to "Equip-Inspire-Mobilize" is helping communities and changing lives! Not only of the people they are serving but those that are volunteering. If you are looking for a way to help...either by volunteering your time or donating items or money...then Led2Serve is the way to go!! Our next trip is booked and we can hardly wait!!
I was a college student, I traveled with Led2Serve to Germany in partnership with Florida Southern College and absolutely loved it! I convinced my sister to travel with me to Costa Rica in June 2012and assured her she'd have a blast! Both trips I went on I had an amazing time serving not only myself but everyone we came into contact with! Led2Serve has helped me grow as a person and further nourish my desire to serve no matter what the circumstance! I have recommended this organization to numerous people and can't wait to go on another trip soon!
led2serve puts together amazing trips focusing around serving others. I have had the pleasure of participating in National and International Journeys. My favorite part about this organization is their serving without boundaries philosophy. To me this was meaningful in that I was able to serve with impartiality. They match those who need to be served and those who want to contribute regardless of race, religion or political affiliation. Connecting others no matter what the country, language, age or education level of a person is. Being unwilling to see a border or limit only boundless opportunities with an open invitation for ideas and creativity.
