In 1964, Mahalia Jackson sang:

“If I can help somebody, as I travel along
If I can help somebody, with a word or son
If I can help somebody, from doing wrong
No, my living shall not be in vain.”

Forrest A. Daniels DSc, FACHE (DSc, 2012), has served at food centers and homeless coalitions. He has served on emergency response teams and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). And he firmly believes that you, too, can serve.

Back in 2020, when everyone was isolating from family and friends and scaling down from activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, Daniels, was literally cranking the knob up to 10.

“I was leading a forensic psychiatric hospital, caring for my ailing mom, continued serving on several non-profit boards, began volunteering with a Skipjack oystering boat, AND was recruited as a volunteer radio DJ,” said Daniels.

His side gig at WHCP-LP – today, the NPR station WHCP-FM – which bills itself as helping “Maryland’s Mid-Shore flourish by serving the economic, information, and inspiration needs of its citizens,” ran for nearly a year.

Daniels, who has always loved music, told us, “Being a DJ was a great run – I did a show once a week and my mom would listen online when she returned to her home in Georgia before she passed – that was beautiful. And now that I think about it – I was pretty good (big laugh) – that was great.”

He has served in C-suite leadership positions as well as on non-profit boards and volunteer roles and more in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Durham, North Carolina, and throughout Maryland.

Over a lifetime of volunteer service, there have been many moments and countless accomplishments that make Daniels proud. But none stand out more than his work with a national kidney disease association.

Being conversant in Spanish, whenever a Spanish-speaking patient/caregiver would call the organization, his colleagues would have him speak with them to translate. Knowing that his proficiency in the language was insufficient to provide the best quality service to the callers, Daniels researched and identified an industrywide service gap.

As a result, he conceived, developed and launched the nation’s first Spanish language help-line in the renal community which benefited thousands of kidney patients and their caregivers. This helped launch a national trend in inclusivity and care.

Another moment Daniels is most proud of occurred while serving on the board of an organization supporting the homeless in Durham, North Carolina. While there, a talented young PR professional created an interactive game/app (playspent.org) based on her lived experience that would challenge lay people to make daily life decisions earning a minimum wage. This app has been and continues to be used as an educational tool for adults and youth alike across the country.

We asked him why people should serve others and his answer was simple: “Anything less is unacceptable.”

“In this country we are more privileged than we realize. We toss out ice cubes and there are people on the other side of the world that would die for those ice cubes – yet we still complain. I can’t impose my beliefs on other people, I can only do what I feel the Lord has placed on my heart to do in service,” said Daniels. “Hopefully my work will inspire others to do the same and people will realize that as busy as one is, you still have time to serve others. Not for attention, accolades or job promotions; simply because it’s the right thing to do!”

That is fitting for the son of a mother who served as a nurse for 55 years and was always known as “the nurses’ nurse” as well as a retired university administrator father who advocated on behalf of and encouraged the gifted academic underdogs. And it is no surprise that after “only” 30+ years as a health care practitioner himself he is thinking about what he will do next. Or as you’d expect – who he will serve next.

“I’m asking myself at this season in life: How can I parlay my lived experiences into other spaces? Do I bring it into a classroom? Do I help corporations better serve their communities to yield improved health outcomes? At the end of the day, whatever I do, it must align with my core mission, so I can be at peace everyday knowing, as Mahalia Jackson sings, that my living is not in vain!”