Title: Operations Director
Company: CityReach Church Cumberland
Location: Cumberland, MD
Education: Technical Certificate, Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician, Allegany College of Maryland (2009-2010)
Career History: Operations Director, CityReach Church Cumberland (2015-Present);
Commercial Sales Manager, AutoZone (2010-2015)
David W. Smith, Operations Director at CityReach Church Cumberland, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the field of religion.
Devoted to his faith in God and serving and helping others, Mr. Smith turned a dark upbringing into an impactful life and career through his role as operations director at CityReach Church Cumberland. He grew up in Maryland in a broken home full of addiction—his mother was in prison for drug use as well as his father. Raised by his grandmother in their absence until he was 12, he ended up living with his father at a local shelter for a while. Enduring a troubled home life, he wound up in foster care in the town of Cumberland after his father was deemed unfit to raise him. In his senior year of high school, he met his future wife and she became pregnant. Originally intending on enlisting in the Marines, he shifted gears as he didn’t want his children to grow up without him around.
As his wife was training to be a nurse, Mr. Smith worked several jobs, including restaurant work. He earned a technical certificate in automotive mechanics from Allegany College of Maryland in 2010 and then began working at AutoZone; through the latter role, he obtained his business training as he dealt with all the community businesses in Cumberland. He served as a commercial sales manager at AutoZone from 2010 to 2015 but was determined to do more to help others transform their lives. A major catalyst was when his brother went to jail for drug use, and his brother’s girlfriend began struggling with drugs. He stepped in and took in his brother’s four children so they didn’t have to be raised in such a similar environment as him. He strived to be nothing like his parents.
Additionally, Mr. Smith had been extremely involved in his church at the time and motivated by God to make a difference and serve others. Since 2014, he has provided holiday dinners and a box of food for local families in need, and taken part in clothing giveaways for families at Christmastime. The operations director at CityReach Church Cumberland since 2015, he has been proud of his ability to help people kick their drug addictions and out of bad living situations, finding better environments for them and their families. He has also expanded his reach beyond the confines of his community; in 2019, he went on a mission trip to Kampala Uganda, where he and others spread the gospel and brought ministry to the streets, which proved to be a rewarding and unforgettable experience for him. His gospel message was so captivating and convincing that a large crowd gathered in the village to listen and a church was ultimately built there.
Outside of his primary endeavors, Mr. Smith has met with the city council in Cumberland to remove and replace an old playground and install new, better equipment so children in the town had a safe and fun place to go to. He similarly revitalized a Jaycee recreation complex, providing a newly refurbished baseball field and basketball area. Passionate and grateful, he strives every day to see the lives of individuals and families restored; see people from different backgrounds and beliefs joining together for the betterment of the community, and see addicts free from the bondage of addiction. Looking toward the future, he aspires to open an orphanage. “The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing!” he said.