AURORA, Colo. — Every month outside Colorado Community Church of Aurora, a small army of volunteers unloads a semi-truck packed with groceries. They sort, bag, and load up cars – each one representing a family in need.
At the center of it all is volunteer Lana Lopes. “We do like 300 families every time we do this,” said Lopes. “You find a need. You feel a need. That’s my whole motto.”
Lopes has led the church’s mobile food drive for more than 20 years. Through a longstanding partnership with Food Bank of the Rockies, she and a team of dedicated volunteers have made it their mission to serve anyone who shows up, no questions asked.
“We just try to make people feel welcome,” Lopes said. “We never want anyone to feel ashamed for coming here.”
But Lopes' compassion doesn’t stop in Colorado. Each year, she organizes a 10-day mission trip to Belize, where her team helps rebuild homes, delivers food to schools, and visits with seniors and prisoners. Often the visits are in remote villages near the Guatemalan border.
“We’ve built from the ground up,” Lopes said. “We do two home rebuilds a year. We go into five schools, a senior center, the prisons, and we even run a sports camp for the kids.”
Lopes says it’s never been about recognition; it’s about impact. “God’s the real hero here. I’ve just always been willing,” she said.
Those who know her say she’s far more than “willing.” Chris Wagner, who’s volunteered alongside Lopes for nine years, calls her “a Wonder Woman.”
“She turns a dirt floor shack into a livable space,” Wagner said. “She leads by example. She’s organized, she’s humble, and she’s someone you want to follow.”
Jada Johnson, 18, has been volunteering with Lopes since she was a child. She now serves in both the food drives and on the Belize mission team.
“She’s a power woman,” Johnson said. “She uplifts people to be the kind of person who goes above and beyond in their community.”
Despite the scope of her work, from feeding families in Aurora to planting seeds of hope abroad, Lopes insists that anyone can do what she does.
“It doesn’t take moving mountains,” she said. “It can be the littlest things that make a huge difference in someone’s life.”
For her decades of service, her heart for others, and her leadership both locally and globally, Denver7 and Levine Law recognized Lana Lopes as this week’s Everyday Hero.
“This church is amazing,” she said. “The people have such a heart for giving. If anybody gets the glory, I’d say give God the glory. I’m just willing.”
Denver7 features a different Everyday Hero each week. To nominate a hero in your life, click here.