From left, Debbie Houk, Renee Miletta, Raymond Wilmouth and Kathy Price are volunteers with Mission of Love. Price founded the nonprofit after a conversation during a vacation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of a series of Saturday profiles of area residents and their stories. To suggest a profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or metro editor Marly Kosinski at mkosinski@tribtoday.com.

AUSTINTOWN — “A simple vacation in Mexico” started Kathy Price’s passion.

For three decades, the nonprofit Mission of Love has sent items throughout the world.

While celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, Price and her husband, Robert, visited the Mexican island of Isla Mujeres in the Caribbean Sea.

Price was approached to start a bilingual preschool, which she declined stating her own health concerns and not knowing how to speak Spanish.

Around the same time, she visited a clinic, noticing there weren’t many supplies.

“I had more in my medicine cabinet at home … than (the doctor) did servicing 16,000 people on the island,” Price said.

People seek out Price from around the world, she said, through word of mouth and networking.

Mission of Love has reached five continents, largely with the help of airlifts. The warehouse operates at a reserve base in the region, free of charge.

Price is the largest user of The Denton Program, which allows private U.S. citizens and organizations to use space on U.S. military cargo planes to send goods to other countries in need.

There have been 85 airlifts, with a scheduled drop-off to Honduras next week.

Most of the supplies and items Price coordinates to send around the world are things that would go into landfills, she said. To be able to help by sending the items is “pretty awesome.”

“I find it very important to be able to service the indigenous, who don’t have what we have, on a daily basis,” she said.

The first was to India to help St. Teresa of Calcutta, also known as Mother Teresa, to send material to make saris as well as medical supplies.

Helping Price with her vision has been a roster of countless volunteers, who she said know their roles in the nonprofit. “When they come in, I’m grateful,” she said.

Debbie Houk, a friend of Price’s for years, helps when she can. “We’ve been friends for a long time,” Houk said.

The retired nurse from Austintown has been sorting medical supplies to go to Honduras, as donations are accepted oftentimes in bulk shipments. Houk’s children and now grandchildren go on mission trips with Mission of Love.

Price also works with areas domestically, sending clothing and beds to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Most of the supplies and items Price coordinates to send around the world are things that would go into landfills, she said. To be able to help by sending the items is “pretty awesome.”

“I find it very important to be able to service the indigenous who don’t have what we have, on a daily basis,” she said.

Price, 71, grew up in Austintown, and attended Immaculate Heart of Mary, then Ursuline High School.

While she did not attend college, Price said she does have a degree — in human nature.

“I have a master’s in it,” she said. “It’s not my mission; it’s everyone’s mission in life to be of service.”

The first time she was able to help people less fortunate, she said she “wanted to keep doing more.”

The Prices have been married since they were 19.

Price always dreamed of joining the Peace Corps while Robert wanted to be an attorney, Price said.

Together, they have four daughters and six grandchildren.

When her children were young, Price owned and operated Something Special, a florist shop in Austintown, to teach her daughters about responsibility and business.

Although she didn’t officially join the Peace Corps, Price’s dream was still fulfilled.

“I now have my own Peace Corps, Mission of Love,” she said.

For information on volunteering and donations to Mission of Love, visit www.missionoflove.org.

afox@tribtoday.com