What Started as Volunteering Became Leadership

When the world shut down during COVID, like so many parents, I was trying to figure out how to help my son make sense of it all.

Everything felt isolated. We couldn't see people the way we used to. Activities stopped and normal life disappeared overnight. But I wanted Dorian to learn something important: even when it feels like we can't do much, we can still help. We can still be connected to our community.

That's how we found the Christine B. Foundation. The organization was founded in honor of Executive Director Matt Dexter's mother, who passed away from cancer when he was just 13 years old. As a mom, that story instantly pulled at my heart. So Dorian and I started volunteering.

Every week, we'd deliver food to local cancer patients and their families. What began as a simple volunteer opportunity became something much bigger. We weren't just delivering meals—we were learning about resilience, gratitude, kindness, and the realities of life. And sometimes, death.

One woman we delivered to was especially memorable. Around Halloween, she always had a piece of candy waiting for Dorian. She was warm, funny, and incredibly kind.

One day she told us it would be her last delivery. She didn't have much time left and was moving in with her daughter.

As a parent, there aren't instructions for helping your child process moments like that. How do you teach a child to hold the sadness of goodbye while also appreciating the privilege of having known someone? How do you explain that helping someone doesn't erase the hard parts—it simply means they don't have to face them alone?

Those conversations stayed with us.

Years later, I can see how those experiences shaped Dorian.

Today, he's leading his own community projects. This month he's running a cereal drive to help stock local food pantries and make sure kids have access to breakfast throughout the summer.

Recently, Matt reached out to support the effort with a food donation.

It was one of those moments that stops you in your tracks. The organization that helped teach Dorian about service is now supporting a project he's leading himself.

What started as a mom trying to show her son that we could still make a difference during a difficult time turned into something neither of us could have predicted.

What started as volunteering turned into leadership. And for me, that's the real lesson: you never know which small act of service will become the foundation for something much bigger. Sometimes all it takes is showing up, one delivery at a time.