Good Sam Club

For some civic-minded Good Sam members, the term "recreational vehicle" doesn't apply to their motorhomes and travel trailers. In addition to piloting their RVs to popular camping destinations, these members hit the road and give back. Since 2008, Good Sam's RVer of the Year Award has recognized exceptional members who go out of their way to make the world a better place. Nominations flow in year-round, with members voting online in the fall and the winner being announced in the club's membership magazine, Highways, in early spring.

Fred Moore

Veterans Champion

Kentucky Good Sam member Fred Moore developed a profound respect for servicemen and women in his four years as a medical corpsman during the Vietnam War era. While placing U.S. flags with fellow volunteers at a national cemetery in California one Memorial Day, Moore had an emotional experience that ultimately inspired him to launch Flags4Vets. The lofty goal of Moore's nonprofit organization is to honor fallen military heroes by placing flags on their graves and orchestrate patriotic demonstrations across the country.

Joyce & John Williams

Perennial Volunteers

Since accepting an offer of early retirement, John Williams and his wife, Joyce, have crossed the continent with their travel trailer to help build more than 1,200 houses with Habitat for Humanity and its RV Care-a-Vanners division. They've lent a hand on projects for dozens of public agencies and charitable organizations from the National Park Service to NOMADS (Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service). The Michigan Good Sam couple spends at least six months a year actively doing good deeds while traveling in their RV.

Marilyn & Don Buller

Disaster Team Founders

Good Sam members Marilyn and Don Buller had always felt there was more to RVing than recreation. Longtime volunteers with the Mennonite Disaster Service, the California couple contacted MDS headquarters in 2006 and established a plan to organize a network of RVers to travel to disaster sites and help repair damaged homes and clean up communities. In the years since then, the Bullers have played key roles on the RV team they founded, reconstructing towns devastated by fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods.

Susan & Monty Scales

Disaster Relief Contractors

When Susan and Monty Scales pulled out of their Indiana driveway with a travel trailer in tow in 2005, they didn't have sightseeing on their itinerary. The Good Sam couple had quit their construction jobs to volunteer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. To help rebuild hard-hit neighborhoods, they organized labor pools, solicited supplies and arranged funding. Since then, they've dedicated themselves to rebuilding homes–and lives–in disaster-stricken neighborhoods across the country through the International Gospel Outreach Disaster Relief program.

Richard Daniels

Stray Animal Advocate

When Georgia Good Sam member Richard Daniels encountered a stray dog during a stroll through a South Carolina RV park in 2005, he didn't know it would be a life-altering experience. Daniels wound up adopting the dog, naming him Old Fella and taking up a crusade to save homeless companion animals with the help of RVers. Daniels used Good Sam's online forums to facilitate animal rescues, RV transportation and adoptions, and eventually founded a network of foster homes for stray pets, the Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue.