The meaning of life could be found in Giving. When you use your skills and resources to contribute to the well-being of others, life is richer for it. In the end, it’s what you DO with what you’ve been entrusted that leaves legacy for those whose lives you touch.
As is often the case, it’s sometimes when you find yourself immersed in trying to build a career and care for your family that life makes you pause and reflect on those blessings, and makes you see things through a wider lens.
Sharon Virts and Scott Miller spent the first half of their lives establishing successful careers in the ultra-competitive world of high-tech and government contracting, and while their accomplishments are significant, the real driving force of their lives is now philanthropy.
Scott was raised in Pennsylvania and Sharon was raised and has deep roots in Loudoun County, growing up in Lucketts, a quaint village of Leesburg. Both have developed strong bonds to the Loudoun County community and chose it to be the cornerstone of their philanthropic endeavors.
It became clear, as they built their lives in Leesburg, that there were needs in the community that were not being met, in spite of the general affluence ascribed to the community as a whole. Education, healthcare, and the preservation of local history and historical sites in Loudoun County spoke to them both as parents, grandparents, and involved citizens and have been the focus of Scott and Sharon’s philanthropic efforts.
Grandparents to an elementary-age grandson, they chose Lucketts Elementary, their neighborhood elementary school, located in a rural area just outside of Leesburg, as the recipients of endowments that have been used to expand upon their arts, music, and STEM enrichment programs and build out the county’s innovative EDGE Academy.
Sharon and Scott also saw a need in Loudoun County’s healthcare facilities. Inova Loudoun Hospital’s Virts Miller Family Emergency Trauma Center’s expansion and renovations made the hospital the county’s only Level 3 trauma center.
Along with education and healthcare, philanthropic support of the Loudoun Museum, Oatlands Plantation and other Loudoun-based preservation and conservation efforts continue to be at the forefront of their efforts.
Sharon and Scott have six grown children and life is full and rewarding. They have found that life is richer in the giving. The moments we are afforded are ultimately finite, and if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing it now, with urgency, but not haste.