Vanita Oelschlager is a wife, mother, grandmother, philanthropist, former teacher, current caregiver, author and poet. A graduate of Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, she now serves as a Trustee of her alma mater and as Writer in Residence for the Literacy Program at The University of Akron. Vanita and her husband Jim were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2006. She was the Congressional Angels in Adoption award recipient for the State of Ohio in 2007 and was named National Volunteer of the Year by the MS Society in 2008. Vanita was also honored in 2009 as the Woman Philanthropist of the Year by the Summit County Chapter of the United Way.