When Russell Lyons volunteered for the first time, he read "Goodnight Moon" to a class of San Diego preschoolers. And it wasn't reading--he'd memorized the book and was reciting it out loud. He was 4. Still, he said it felt good up there, in front of the other kids, lending a hand. He wanted more of that feeling. Thirteen years later, he's getting a lot of it. He's on a five-month road trip across America--not sightseeing, but volunteering. The University City resident has spent time at an animal reserve in Utah, a women's shelter in St. Louis, a soup kitchen in New York, a retirement home in Tucson. This week he's in Los Angeles, at a program that supports disabled youth. "I just like helping people and feeling that something I do is making a difference," he said. He resists the idea that his "Do Good Adventure" is all that unusual. It bothers him that the media often describe young people as lazy, self-centered and materialistic. So he sees his trip as a chance to make a statement, too. "About 55 percent of teens do volunteer work, higher than the rate for adults," he said, according to a 2002 study. "Not everybody knows that." Of course, some teens do volunteer work because it looks impressive on their college applications. Lyons said he mentioned his trip on his submissions. But charity work is a habit with him. Even before the crosscountry trip, he was volunteering about 200 hours a year at various places. He's made sandwiches for homeless families in Washington D.C. He's taught math to fifth-graders in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He gets some of that drive from his mother, Leslye Lyons, who has been involved in nonprofits for much of her life. She was there when her son "read" to the preschoolers--a memory of hers "that will never go away." What did Russell Lyons think of his first volunteering?
Creative. Impressive. Persuasive. Imaginative.