Kristen Graves is all smiles when she talks about her career and humanitarian projects.

The singer/songwriter has found a way to combine her love of music with her love of people — and make money at it. She has written and produced two CDs, performs at concerts around the country and promotes a not-for-profit group called Simply Smiles, which is raising money for the Casa Hogar Orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Graves recently graduated from St. Olaf College in Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in music and religion and a minor in business. She is a 2000 graduate of Green Bay Southwest High School.

“I love singing,” she said. “It’s my favorite thing to do. I love people. (Concerts) combine these two things for me. I get to meet so many people from different backgrounds.”

Her personal mission with her music is “to provoke thought and promote dialogue,” she said.

People have labeled her a soulful, acoustic songwriter. The songs on her CD, “Don’t Look Back,” are titled “Something,” “Wings,” “The Lady Cried,” “Author of Grace,” “Dear Abby,” “Anywhere,” “Live Like That,” “Down Here,” “Lemonade,” “Sunset Shores,” “Apology” and “Don’t Look Back.”

While a freshman in college, Graves went to the mission of Casa Hogar. “My first trip was a huge eye-opener,” she said. “I’d never seen living conditions like that before. … It made me realize I could do something about it.”

She worked with Bryan Nurnberger on Simply Smiles, an organization run by volunteers who want to improve the lives of impoverished children. A kickoff event is planned for Nov. 19 at Calvary Lutheran Church.

One aspect of the program is sponsoring a child at Casa Hogar. Sponsorships start at $15 month and go up in increments of 15. Sponsorship brings translated correspondence both through e-mail and letters, a video exchange and the possibility of traveling to Mexico to meet your sponsored child. Sponsorship money goes toward nutritious meals, education, medical care, basic human needs and toys and entertainment.

Casa Hogar houses about 100 children at a time. The children come from the mountains around the area. Some have parents who are unable to care for them; others are orphans. They might be the victims of political violence, abject poverty or domestic abuse. It is the only facility in the area that accepts children with special needs.

People also can give items on a needed-item list. Periodically, Graves takes a trip to Mexico to deliver donated supplies. Also, one-time cash donations go toward building a new dorm, kitchen and playroom for the children by September 2006.

A second program she is trying to get started is called Simply Change. She is working through local student governments and honor societies to get pails in schools so students can drop in their spare change. Classes can win prizes for donations.

“Just 10 cents a day in a school of 200 students brings in $3,600 in one school year,” she writes in a brochure. “That’s enough to feed the children at Casa Hogar for three months.”

In the near future, she will have a kickoff event in Green Bay for Simply Smiles. She also will participate in Bay Park Square’s Simon Evening of Giving for Simply Smiles on Nov. 21 in Ashwaubenon.

After that, she will take a trip to Mexico to deliver supplies and see the smiling faces at Casa Hogar.