Joy Team founder honored

West Minnehaha — The Joy Team founder Michele McKeag Larsen was honored this month for being a community do-gooder by Umpqua Bank in its inaugural Community Good Deed Awards. Larsen was one of four to win a $5,000 prize in the online contest. Other winners included an arts education booster from California and Ralph Gilliam from Oregon, who created Club Impact so young adults with disabilities could socialize with one another. Larsen started The Joy Team in 2010 with a mission to “spread joy, optimism and inspiration.” The nonprofit’s PB & Joy Project has given nearly 3,200 jars of peanut butter to children in Vancouver Public Schools, and its inspirational billboards can be spotted all around the area.