Volunteering at WaterFire - How I spent my weekend

This Saturday, after spending most of my day in New Hampshire at a school board meeting (I serve on the board of a private school there - more on that at another time, perhaps), I zipped back to Providence to volunteer again, this time at a Providence institution, WaterFire. I'm the co-chair of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce's Ambassadors, and for our spring / summer service event, we assembled a crew of over 20 ambassadors and friends to serve as ambassadors to WaterFire, staffing Ribbons of Light booths.

WaterFire is a Providence institution, was first lit for First Night 1994, and was so wildly popular that supporters rallied to make it an ongoing event. Since then, creator Barnaby Evans and his team of staff and volunteers have labored tirelessly to keep the organization running, gathering donations of time and efforts from individuals, business, and the city. It seemed appropriate to give one evening to assist in the same work.

I was proud of the group we brought, and I believe we were quite successful in achieving our goal of helping in fundraising efforts. This weekend's event was especially important because the United States Conference of Mayors was in town. It was quite an experience welcoming such an illustrious group to Providence, along with the 5000-plus other attendees, and I look forward to participating again!