Perhaps one has seen the special section that was included in Friday’s newspaper, a glossy magazine highlighting 25 people who, at first glance, might not stand out. They are average Beaufort County residents — people who go to work every day, go home to their families, who shop at the same grocery store or attend the same church. Among them might be a person one has known for most of their lives; others, complete strangers. But each one of them is special for the role they have in making Beaufort County work.

There was the teacher who has dedicated her career to those lagging behind in reading skills, making sure the little ones don’t fall too far behind; there’s the bus driver and custodian who are charged with keeping many children safe on the road. There’s a profile of the woman who delivers the Washington Daily News to front yards across Beaufort County in the dead of night and the woman who spends 12-hour shifts in a dark room watching computer screens filled with City of Washington infrastructure systems and making sure if there’s a problem, someone is there solving it immediately. There’s the cook who spends lunch and dinner behind the scenes ensuring customers get the food they ordered, and how they ordered it, and the woman who’s carrying on a family tradition by dedicating her spare time as a firefighter and EMT in service to her community.

There’s the assistant district attorney who goes to work every day to pursue his passion—justice; and the funeral home director whose role is to help families in their time of greatest need. There’s a profile of the Washington native who fulfilled her dream of becoming a doctor and came home to work in her hometown hospital, and another of the woman who’s been responsible for feeding generations of schoolchildren at Northeast Elementary.

There are students, a fitness center owner, a county commissioner, a Girl Scout and a riverkeeper. There’s a paramedic and farmer, an innkeeper and a bartender.

On the surface, they may seem like the average Joe or Jane, but it’s these people of Profile, and many others just like them that make this place what it is and makes sure the systems in place work for all residents. They each contribute a small part that makes up a whole, and the whole looks pretty good. Have another look at Profile and meet some of the the people working to make Beaufort County a better place.