Volunteering
Above: Doing volunteer clean up work in Ishinomaki, Japan after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, July 2011
Being a volunteer has always been important to me. In addition to earning a living, I think it is important to give back time, energy and experience to the community. In almost every volunteer experience I have been in... it has been a memorable and rewarding time.
Los Angeles
I was involved in three separate (and unrelated) groups. I was a Saturday morning volunteer at the LASPCA where I helped to socialize with the dogs living in the shelter (walks, playtime and grooming) in order to make them more likely to be adopted. I adopted a Dalmatian from this shelter who became Jean Claude and my best friend.
Twice a week after work, I visited a support home for "Caring for Babies with AIDS", children born from a parent (or both) with AIDS and orphans of the state. We tried to ensure the babies and young children had as much of a normal childhood as possible.
I adopted a portion of the 405 Freeway where I was responsible to keep the walls along the freeway clean of graffiti. CalTrans provided me with cones, paint and rollers. In hindsight, it was incredibly risky work considering the proximity to traffic and the chance of gang taggers finding out who was covering up their work. But I did have my name posted on the highway for several years.
Japan
Doing volunteer work in Japan proved to be more difficult due to my travel schedule and the overall lack of volunteer organizations. That all changed overnight after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. I spent several weekends in northern Japan doing clean up work. I will never, ever forget those experiences.
Vancouver
Arriving in Vancouver I set out to build a network from scratch. Since we initially lived at and eventually bought a residence at the University of British Columbia, I focused much of my efforts in the local community. I have become a mentor with several business school and entrepreneurship entities here. Very rewarding and very engaging for me.
This is Nancy. One of the babies from Caring for Babies with AIDS. The safety, security and confidentiality of these children was paramount. Most of my volunteer sessions took place in a undisclosed location (a donated house) in the evenings. Occasionally the staff would take them for a field trip outside. Nancy and I are in a park in Hermosa Beach in LA County, near the ocean and my home. Circa 1993.
Despite being a single man at the time, I was seriously considered and investigated options to adopt Nancy. I called her "my little noodle" and she always smiled when I called her that name.
My stretch of the Interstate 405 near Manhattan Beach where I "adopted" the east side of the freeway.