Shura Wallin is a Green Valley Samaritan. She grew up hearing from her parents that "if people are in need, you help them." That spirit of sacrifice for others followed her. With a promising career ahead as a music teacher, having studied dance with the Royal Ballet and piano at the American Conservatory of Music, eventually earning a teaching degree at the University of Illinois, Wallin instead set her sights on a variety of causes. After serving with Planned Parenthood and the Population Council in New York, an organization that provides family planning and contraceptive access to the poor around the world, she coordinated food programs for the homeless in Berkeley, California, where in 1996 she was selected as The Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women. Retiring in Green Valley Arizona in 2000, she became involved with Humane Borders, a humanitarian group that puts water tanks and 30’ flags in areas where there is significant migrant traffic. Working with them, she began to realize the enormity of the problem of migration and teamed up with Tucson Samaritans and eventually co-founded Green Valley Samaritans. "Our mission is to save as many lives on the desert as we possibly can – in short, no more deaths! We walk on the desert carrying backpacks of food, water and medical supplies, calling out in Spanish, 'Somos Amigos, Somos Los Samaritanos, Necesita ayuda?" Shura works every Tuesday in Nogales, Sonora at an aide station, providing food, water, medical help and above all taking time with people, letting them know that her heart is with their hearts. In 2012, Shura was presented with the Hon Kachina Award, the most prestigious volunteer award given in the state of Arizona.

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