Diana Brettrager moved to Arizona from Illinois back in 1995 to join Country Financial as an agent in Tucson. As soon as their regional meetings began she was introduced to NAIFA-AZ and was told that to be a “Professional” she needed to join — and join she did! Not only did she join, but she ran for a board position and began as Community Service Programs Chair after her first year. Diana moved up the ranks in her local association and then was recruited to serve on the NAIFA-Arizona board where she became state president in 2011-2012.
Diana’s involvement with Community Service extended beyond NAIFA and she began to join up with other causes and donate her time and talents.
She volunteered for over 10 years with The Shyann Kindness Project to gather school supplies for low income students, distributed toy baskets for children at Christmas Eve and helped at the annual party for over 300 children and their families. Diana also worked at Tucson Medical Center at their Children’s Emergency Department on Christmas even each year through The Shyann Kindness Project to comfort children and their siblings going through a crisis situation through distributing books, games and plush animals.
Diana spearheaded the annual clothing/toy drive for the Children’s Center for Rehabilitation Services at Tucson Medical Center for over 5 years. She collected , wrapped and distributed gifts (4-5 gifts each) for over 150 families each year.
Diana has been a volunteer at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in the greeting/welcoming ministry and also was on the Women’s Club where she organized events for children, families and adults.
She was a supporter of the Sahuaro High School Cross Country Team for 4 years as a parent/volunteer. Diana helped at 3-4 fundraising events each year and hosted Pasta Night dinners for the athletes and coaches each year.
Diana was the volunteer/administrator for CLEAR (Creative Leads, Exchanges and Referrals) for over 20 years. This was a business networking referral group whose sole business was to build business through their members. She also coordinated and organized 2-3 social events each year for the members and their spouse/significant other.
In 2014, she became a volunteer through MOCHA (Mentors of Challenged Adults) through Special Olympics where she still supports their events and teams. Diana helps in organizing the athletes in bowling, basketball, tennis and track and field at the local, regional and state levels. She volunteers and supports law enforcement events that promote Special Olympics through the Law Enforcement Torch Runs, Tip-a-Cop events, Fuel of Dreams the Breakfast of Champions.
Since 2022 Diana has devoted her time to Southern Arizona Book Heroes — a non-profit whose mission is to soothe, distract and comfort children in a crisis situation with our First Responders through duffle bags of books, blankets and small stuffed animals. This past year she organized over 25 book drives in the community and was responsible for the coordination of 15 informational booths at community events. She is the community liaison with local business groups such as Better Business Bureau, Local First, The Group, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, Tucson Business Networking and Southern Arizona Volunteer Management Association. She is instrumental in being a liaison between Southern Arizona Book Heroes and border patrol, police, fire and child centric agencies. This past September, Diana was presented the Annual Volunteer of the year for 2024.
Diana’s work with NAIFA gave her the confidence, ability and committment to make her community a better place.