Many know him as “Mitch the Mailman,” and some even recognize him from his family’s nonprofit, Maryssa’s Mission. Still, many of his friends and postal customers did not know that he had been pursuing his doctoral degree since 2019. “Carrying mail is fun, but I’ve learned that life is about helping others succeed through tough trial,” said Mitch.
The Rivas family founded Maryssa’s Mission Foundation after the tragic and unexpected loss of their two-year-old twin daughter, Maryssa, in 2015. Rivas shared that earning a degree acted as a motivational tool for his younger sister Melissa to pursue a master’s degree in clinical counseling, and it set the bar high for his daughter Makenzie to graduate with her master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Baldwin Wallace University this year.
Much to their surprise, Mitchell, Melissa, and Makenzie all graduated on the same weekend. Mitchell and Melissa shared the stage at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, and Makenzie walked across Baldwin Wallace University’s stage the next day. Each of their professions symbolizes transforming tragedy into triumph by leveraging life experiences to positively impact the world.
The Rivas Family hosts two significant fundraising events in the summer, raising money for the medically fragile community across Ohio. This year’s focus is on eradicating hunger among the medically fragile community. The Rivas family has been organizing and partnering with the community to deliver 1000s of meals to families admitted to our Ohio Children’s Hospitals. To learn more or to purchase tickets visit www.MMFKids.org.
