For a Good Cause -- Max Wood

* Story by Deepa Bharath

Max Wood says she believes she’ll be a volunteer forever.

She has been a part of Share Our Selves for about 10 years now. And

this month, she will chair an event called Wild and Crazy Taco Night,

which will be the Costa Mesa charity’s ninth annual open house.

Wood, who recently moved to Huntington Beach, had lived in Newport

Beach for 14 years and has also volunteered her time to the Surfrider

Foundation, participating in its beach cleanups.

Wood said she started volunteering several years ago when she moved to

the area from Portland.

“Moving to this area from Oregon was kind of a culture shock to me,”

she said. “I wanted to reach out to people at a grass-roots level, meet

new people and get a good sense of giving back to society.”

Working with Share Our Selves has touched Wood’s life in many ways,

she said.

“Fortunately, or unfortunately, the organization serves so many

people,” she said. “Two years ago, at Thanksgiving, we gave away

groceries to 750 families. We started with chickens, went to turkey, then

cans of ham and toward the end, some families only got rice and beans.”

Over the 10 years she has volunteered with the charity, Woods said she

has seen the organization grow.

“They’ve become much more sophisticated in their operations,” she

said.

Thanks to the generosity of the community and fund-raisers, the group

even has refrigerated vans to transport groceries, Wood said.

The satisfaction she personally derives from volunteer work is

twofold, she said.

“I had poor beginnings myself,” she said. “So first of all, it is a

good feeling to know that you’re able to give back to society. Secondly,

I’ve met the most wonderful people I’m honored even to know.”

Wood works as a consultant who sets up meeting sites at hotels for

corporations. But despite her busy schedule and travel plans, she

squeezes in at least a few hours of volunteer work each week.

“It’s really important,” she said. “As one of my friends in SOS says,

‘as volunteers, we want to show people how we can live simply so other

people can simply live.”’