Volunteering as the aerial photographer for our local newspaper, The Concord Bridge, has been very satisfying. Today, my assignment included three locations in town: the Middle School, the West Concord Train Depot, and an area known as Heywood Meadow. Between travel, flying, and post-processing, this job consumes less than 2 hours per week, allowing me plenty of time for my paid consulting work, travel, and hobbies. Increasingly, I have been thinking about other ways I can volunteer, something I have done throughout my life.

The first time I volunteered, I was in my early twenties. It was for the Special Olympics as a Hugger, possibly the best job ever, even if it has likely been retired in light of modern sensibilities. I would hug athletes of all ages and abilities as they finished their events. I wish I had saved my official shirt that had the word HUGGER printed on the front and back. Next, I did construction with Habitat for Humanity. Although I love building things, I enjoyed this less because I did not like taking direction from people who knew less about what they were asking me to do than I did. I moved on to volunteering as a soccer coach, first for an over-18 women’s team (6 years), and then for the youth soccer teams for all three kids.

On the professional front, I was a mentor for the MIT Gordon Engineering Leadership program and Vice Chairman of the Video Electronics Standards Association.

Most of my recent volunteering has been centered on photography for non-profits, including Open Table, the Bionic Project, and the American Amputee Soccer Association, where I also served on the Board of Directors.