Jordan Asseo: Volunteer Reflection

This fall, we’ve had the great fortune of meeting Jordan Asseo, whose approach to volunteering  encourages and supports others to follow suit.

“I truly believe coupling volunteering with social connection… is crucial to bringing us all closer together and uplifting those around us whether at the workplace, at a community kitchen, or in our own kitchens.”

During my second year in college I began to reflect on my weekly routine of working at an internship, going to the gym, and hanging out with friends. I realized how fortunate I was to have my campus community, and felt like I needed to support the broader communities in my city. I joined a co-ed volunteering fraternity and found that volunteering was not only an opportunity to support others, but also cultivate meaningful relationships of my own. During COVID, that was all put on pause, and by the time things started to return to normal I had graduated and found my only sustained volunteering to be regular platelet donations.

I then discovered Cambridge Volunteers, attended their remote Volunteer Fair, and quickly found some one-time opportunities. As I tried to divide my time between volunteering and nurturing my own friendships, it occurred to me how much harder it is to do both without built-in communities like those on a college campus. So when I learned about Community Cooks through CV, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to combine the spirit of my friend group’s cooking nights with addressing local food insecurity. 

Once a month when I cook a meal for Community Cooks, I invite a new group of friends to do the work together and make some extra for ourselves. This kind of hands-on, impactful hangout inevitably leads to meaningful conversations. And when I have us take a moment to appreciate that we made a meal that nourished folks in our community as well as ourselves, I feel like my friends start to see volunteering less as a sacrifice and more as a mutually beneficial activity for everyone involved. 

A couple of my friends have since signed up to volunteer regularly with Community Cooks — one is now a team lead! — and I’ve encouraged them to host Community Cooks nights with their friends to hopefully result in a domino effect that spreads wider than my own social circle can reach. Meanwhile, I’m exploring new ways to infuse this domino effect into my personal and work life. I truly believe that coupling volunteering with social connection — bringing a buddy to help increase voter turnout in your neighborhood, or cooking meals with friends for your community — is crucial to bringing us all closer together and uplifting those around us whether at the workplace, at a community kitchen, or in our own kitchens.

-Jordan Asseo

Thanks to Jordan Asseo for this reflection. Click here to learn more about volunteering for Community Cooks.

Note from CV: We were interested in how Jordan has been applying his outlook on connecting people through volunteerism, to his personal life. Here's one story. Jordan invited people over for a party where each wrote a letter to someone they cared deeply about, who lived far away. Some of the letters have had profound, lasting impacts, reuniting sender and recipient after a long, typically unintended, hiatus.

Our takeaway: being intentional in our personal relationships, and accepting support as well as giving it, can kindle interest in and sustain commitment to a mutually supportive, public community. Add domino effect!