Volunteer of the Week, Ryan K., San Francisco

Volunteer of the Week, Ryan Kolynych

Ryan is one with water – whether swimming through it or surfing on it. He swam competitively in high school, including a heat against a new kid on the scene named Michael Phelps. Ryan went on to All-American Honorable Mention swimming honors at Emory University in Atlanta. Despite the high level of athletic competition and challenging academic curriculum, Ryan took the time to share his passion for swimming with others:

I coached a Special Olympics team as a service project. We helped train the kids, get them ready for meets … just had a good time …. It was cool to see the smile on their faces when they’re just swimming around.

After graduation, Ryan headed west to the Pacific and the amazing surfing around San Francisco. We met Ryan at one of his favorite surf spots – Ocean Beach. He’d noticed an online post about a beach clean-up sponsored by the local Surfrider Foundation chapter.

Representing 50,000 members and over 70 local chapters in the US alone, the Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people. The beach clean-up Ryan participated in was one of 600 clean-ups that Surfrider chapters across the country have held recently.

I’ve surfed this beach a couple of times. I definitely noticed it was kind’ve dirty … It’s pretty ridiculous how many cigarette butts you pick up on the beach … You’d think there wouldn’t be that many, but there are a ton.

Anticipating heavy summer beach traffic, the San Francisco Surfrider Chapter is hosting another beach clean-up at two different spots on Ryan’s Ocean Beach this Sunday July 5. If you’re not in the area or out of town for the holiday, find a local Surfrider chapter to get involved.

As a reminder, to find other volunteer opportunities or to register your own volunteer project, visit the new government site, Serve.gov. If you haven’t yet, see Ryan in action cleaning Ocean Beach along with several other incredible volunteers in our Season One trailer.

Volunteer of the Week – Kathy G., San Francisco

While a realtor’s mantra is location, location, location, Kathy Guerra is all about community: community services, community improvement, community livelihood. Kathy works for a local non-profit by day and volunteers for a range of community organizations in her spare time. We caught up with her on a brisk San Francisco afternoon, restoring a mural for UCSF’s New Generation Health Center (NGHC). Kathy and the fabulous, vibrant mural are featured in our trailer – third volunteer and location profiled – and her sense of giving back echoes what we’ve heard from so many:

Helping is one thing, but when you’re able to give your time and create something or restore something that is so important to so many different people – for me it’s a wonderful feeling. It makes me feel complete, helping people and in turn, that help helps them.

While this was her first day on the mural, Kathy has volunteered at the Center many times over the years and done the AIDS Walk with them every year. She thrives on working with the youth and teens NGHC provides services for and was thrilled to give her afternoon:

I could’ve been sitting on the couch or getting my nails done or spending useless money versus coming out here and helping … painting taps into creativity of my own. You know it means a lot to me to be a part of something that I’ve driven by for 10 years … and now I’m here painting it.

The mural Kathy’s restoring is a decade-old collaboration between NGHC and inner-city community-based mural arts organization, Precita Eyes. The painting reinforces NGHC’s mission of empowering “youth to make informed, positive decisions about their health and future, particularly related to their reproductive health and planning their families.”

Kathy feels her mural restoration afternoon was a simple, tangible way to give back after all the Center has done for San Francisco’s highest-risk communities. Whether you’re a local or visiting the City by the Bay, stop by the mural, or better yet, give the NGHC a few hours of your time and support Kathy’s community.

Season One Trailer LIVE

Supporting Others, Across the Country

Kathy paints, Susan walks, Chris cheers, and Cate guides.

Muralist Kathy paints for San Francisco’s New Generation Health Center, Susan walks dogs up for adoption at a Northern Michigan’s Cherryland Humane Society, Volunteer Chris hands out water at the Big Kahuna Triathlon in Santa Cruz, and docent Cate guides tours at the historic Haas-Lilenthaal House. See more from these volunteers in an upcoming episode.