Ever since I was a young child, my parents have bestowed in me the importance of giving back and helping others live a more fruitful life. I was a sophomore communications major at a state school when an idea stuck me that would change my life forever. I realized that the only way that I was going to become the person that I wanted to be was to become the change that I wanted to see. I knew that I couldn’t fix the world’s problems, but I could change one person’s life at a time by simply helping them with a random act. So that is what I did.

I spent the summer of 2009 living out of my 2000 Nissan Altima, which I modified to become my home on wheels. I took the passenger seat out and replaced it with a Jury-rigged bed. I added a Rubbermaid container as a dresser and built a place to store food in the trunk. Everything I needed to survive was in my car, and I hit the road. For 55 days I drove from my home in Watertown, NY, all down the east coast until I finally reached my ultimate destination: Key West, FL. When all was said and done, I had helped 115 random individuals along the way. I had mulched, raked and shoveled dirt for countless individuals. From time to time, things got a little crazy, and I did acts as extreme as putting docks into freezing cold water, planting 20 palm trees, and in one instance, I even sealed a woman’s driveway.

Life on the road was something that changed my life forever. Helping these individuals gave me the confidence to approach almost anyone with the question, “What is one life lesson that you wish you would have known from the beginning?” The answers changed my life.

The emails, letters, postcards and notes I received upon returning home made me realize that this trip was far more than I could have ever imagined it would have been. It was actually something that was changing the world. And now the mission is simple; to let people know that I lived. By explaining the simplicity of philanthropy on a budget, we all become “do-gooders,” and before you know it, the world will be a better place.

The National Conference on Volunteering and Service will provide multiple opportunities to learn about other unconventional methods of volunteering and serving others. I challenge each of you to consider what you can do TODAY to change someone’s world, and then share about it at the conference! It’s a great place to network with other change makers.

Thanks for reading! To read more about my experience, please visit: www.TylerDoGood.com

- Tyler “DoGood” Kellogg