Community
I don't talk about this stuff much online, mostly because it doesn't feel like the kind of thing that needs to be broadcast. But since this site is meant to be a reasonably honest picture of what I spend my time on, it felt wrong to leave it out entirely.
Food bank volunteering
I've been volunteering at a local food bank for a few years now. I started because they needed help with inventory and sorting, which turned out to be the kind of repetitive, detail-oriented work I'm weirdly good at. I usually go in once a week, sometimes more around the holidays when the volume picks up. It's not glamorous — mostly moving boxes, checking dates, organizing shelves — but it matters, and the people who run the place work incredibly hard.
I don't run anything or have an official title. I just show up and do what needs doing. That arrangement works well for me.
CERT
I'm a member of my county's Community Emergency Response Team. CERT is a FEMA-supported program that trains civilians in basic disaster preparedness and response — things like light search and rescue, fire suppression, first aid triage. The training took a few weekends and was genuinely useful. I've participated in a couple of exercises since then and helped out during one minor weather event, mostly with wellness checks.
Honestly, I hope I never need to use most of what I learned. But it felt like a responsible thing to do, especially living in an area where emergency services can take a while to arrive. The other people in the program are great — a real mix of backgrounds, all just trying to be useful if something goes wrong.
Trail restoration
A while back I helped with a trail restoration project in a regional park near where I live. A section of trail had eroded pretty badly after a rough winter, and a local conservation group organized volunteer workdays to rebuild it. I went out for several weekends with a few dozen other people. We moved gravel, installed water bars, rebuilt a couple of short boardwalk sections over marshy areas. Hard physical work, but satisfying in a way that desk work never is.
I'd do more of that kind of thing if the opportunities came up more often. There's something grounding about building something with your hands that you know people will actually walk on.
Youth soccer
I helped out with a U12 team for a couple of seasons. A friend was coaching and needed an extra adult around for practices and games. I don't have any formal coaching credentials — I mostly helped with drills, kept track of the schedule, and made sure nobody wandered off. The kids were fun. Chaotic, but fun.
I'm not actively coaching right now, but I'd probably say yes again if someone asked. It was a good way to be involved in something completely different from everything else I do.
General thoughts
I prefer doing things locally and in person rather than online. There are plenty of good causes you can support from behind a screen, and I don't mean to dismiss that. But for me, showing up somewhere and doing physical, tangible work with other people is what actually feels meaningful. It's harder to be cynical about the world when you're stacking canned goods next to a retired teacher and a high school kid who both just want to help.
None of this is especially impressive or noteworthy. That's kind of the point. Most community work isn't. It's just people quietly doing what they can where they are.
— K. Vadala