Vows of charity: Seattle newlyweds start honeymoon volunteering in Africa

Please, says Clay McDaniel, don't portray us as heroes. We're not doing this to be role models; we're not telling people how to live their lives.

Fair enough. Let's not canonize McDaniel, 30, and his wife, Mandy Levenberg, 31, newlywed Wallingford residents.

It's true that they're setting out today on a four-month budget "honeymoon" starting with five weeks of volunteer work in AIDS-ravaged African villages. And it's true that to have this freedom, they walked away from good jobs with no guarantee of what will be available when they get back.

And it's also true that their parents and some friends first reacted with concern and a certain degree of shock. "It's a pretty bad economy, so a lot of people were, 'Wow, that's pretty bold. ... What are you thinking?' " Levenberg said.

But the more you learn about these two MBA graduates, the more it becomes clear that this trip is simply in keeping with the people they are — and have been since their youth.

"Mandy and I believe that in every piece of service, there's something a little selfish," McDaniel said. "Everything you do for others you inevitably gain some enjoyment or satisfaction from."

And while McDaniel isn't presuming to tell others what route to follow, he's certain many people could lead more fulfilled lives if they took the first steps toward some kind of volunteer work.

Levenberg and McDaniel were married last month in the Rose Garden at Woodland Park Zoo, and, indicative of their priorities, encouraged those who checked their gift registry to consider a donation to a charitable organization.

The couple moved to Seattle two years ago after earning MBA degrees from the Kellogg School of Management at Chicago's Northwestern University, and landing job offers from Microsoft (him) and Amazon.com (her).

They immediately found ways to get active in public-service projects in their adopted home. She volunteered her Spanish skills to a Red Cross language bank; helped out at Boomtown Café, a nonprofit restaurant to help low-income people; and recently joined the board of Real Change, a street newspaper benefiting the homeless.

He wrapped artwork and served hors d'oeuvres at charity auctions for Artist Trust, which helps promising artists and performers, and worked three nights a week as a warehouse room supervisor for Food Lifeline.

Lifelong volunteers

Levenberg grew up in a Chicago suburb in a family in which community service was an integral part of life, combining the Jewish concepts of tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (heal the world).

By 16, she was teaching handicapped kids to swim. After her junior year of high school, she traveled to Paraguay to help build latrines and teach dental hygiene in a program called Amigos de las Americas. After her senior year, she traveled to Ecuador with the same organization, this time as a group leader.

McDaniel, in the summers between his high-school years in Dallas, helped build houses in Kansas City, Mo., on 10-day trips with Habitat for Humanity.

Later, living in New York, he assisted a variety of arts organizations and, through New York Cares, did "elbow-grease, manpower stuff," setting up beds and blankets at a shelter, serving at a soup kitchen.

Levenberg and McDaniel met at Kellogg, and both were drawn to the student-created Kellogg Corps, in which newly graduating MBAs spend the summer in a volunteer project tapping their management and leadership skills in developing countries.

For Levenberg and McDaniel, the program was Africare in Zimbabwe, where they helped schools and villages set up small businesses, such as presses to make sunflower oil or small "chicken runs," tiny poultry farms. The proceeds helped purchase school clothes and supplies for children orphaned by AIDS.

While there, they lived with Ruth Mufute, director of Africare's Zimbabwe office, and her husband, Lovemore. Returning to Africa, they will again live with Mufute, now Africare director in Zambia.

After their Africare work, the couple plan to see other African countries, travel to Nepal for a trek and visit Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Levenberg said they don't know where they'll stay, but they need few creature comforts.

In fact, she says, considering the money they'll save by not paying their Wallingford rent, by changing their car insurance to fire protection only, and by avoiding Seattle's pricey nightlife, they may actually be spending less money by being on the road. Of course, that doesn't account for the salaries they'll be giving up.

'Find what you care about'

Levenberg quit Amazon in February and has been doing consulting work on her own. McDaniel left Microsoft three weeks ago.

Despite the uncertainties they face, and the question of what jobs they'll get when the trip ends, McDaniel and Levenberg said they can't imagine a better time in their lives for this adventure.

"Before we have kids in our lives, before we have a mortgage," said McDaniel, "and before we have other kinds of commitments that may require us to be rooted down. ... What a wonderful time to make good on some of the things we'd always wanted to do."

Adds Levenberg, "I don't think we would go if we thought we would be in big trouble when we came back."

In Africa, they will cross paths with close friend Lisa Chick, executive director of Seattle/King County City Year, an AmeriCorps program which encourages public service among those 17 to 24.

Chick, who met Levenberg in Ecuador when they were volunteers in 1990, said the couple's unusual honeymoon "didn't surprise me at all. They're both risk-takers, and they're both passionate about doing the right thing."

Many people, McDaniel said, shy away from volunteer work because of "activation barriers," including not knowing where to start, how much time they can allot or what type of service they might be interested in.

His suggestion: Jump in, meet people, and let your interests guide you. "Find what you care about," he said. "Do something, anything, and then do more."

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com