The Rotary Club of Christiansburg-Blacksburg has presented its 2026 Citizen of the Year Award to Paul Mele.
The Citizen of the Year Award honors a non-Rotarian whose voluntary acts and services have made the Christiansburg-Blacksburg area a better place in which to live. Mele’s career in the U.S. Army, using his experience to help develop a new generation of leaders within the New River Valley’s local Army ROTC programs, and his work as founder and president of the New River Valley chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace have unquestionably improved lives throughout the New River Valley and beyond. Paul Mele is an outstanding example of putting the Rotary motto of Service Above Self into action.
Mele received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Military Institute and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech, the Naval War College, and the Army War College. He served the Army for 30 years, retiring with the rank of Colonel after a career in conventional and special operations units including operations in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan. After living a typical nomadic military family lifestyle, Paul and his wife Julie chose to return to Blacksburg with their family. Here, he educated, trained, developed, and inspired college students in the Virginia Tech and Radford University Army ROTC programs.
An episode of Mike Rowe’s “Returning the Favor” series which featured the Sleep In Heavenly Peace organization, gave Mele the inspiration and vision to begin the local New River Valley chapter in August 2019. SHP-NRV’s mission is “No Kid Sleeps On the Floor In Our Town”. A bed is something many of us take for granted, but for the children who don’t have one, it can be a source of stress and lack of sleep which can be detrimental for their physical and mental development. To meet their mission, SHP-NRV organizes bed builds with 50-90 community volunteers who mark, cut, sand, drill, stain, brand, and assemble wooden beds for children ages 3-17 who do not have beds of their own. A typical bed build completes 40 beds. Each bed is then delivered to a child’s home and assembled with a mattress, pillow, and bedding.
SHP-NRV began with no money, no tools or equipment, no facilities, and just Mele as the only chapter member and grew over the next year to 10 members and enough tools and materials to host its first bed-building event of 40 beds. As of June 15, they have hosted more than 45 bed builds resulting in 1,644 beds being built and delivered to children in Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles Counties and the City of Radford with over 16,000 volunteer hours logged.
As Paul Mele accepted the 2026 Citizen of the Year Award from the Rotary Club of Christiansburg-Blacksburg, he made clear that the award was really for all of those who have volunteered for the organization and that he just represented those who did the work. He also asked that we spread the word to others who would like to volunteer and get the word out about Sleep In Heavenly Peace, “There are more kids in Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, and Radford who need us – help us to serve them too.”
Visit https://shpbeds.org/chapter/va-new-river-valley/ for more information about how to participate in a Sleep In Heavenly Peace bed build, donate bedding, or to request a bed.
The Rotary Club of Christiansburg-Blacksburg has exemplified the Rotary motto of Service Above Self in the community for over 100 years. Local leadership recognition, youth development programs, and community service projects as well as participation in Rotary International programs such as PolioPlus exemplify this motto. For more information, find @ChristiansburgBlacksburgRotary on Facebook.
Terri Fisher
Rotary Club of Christiansburg-Blacksburg
