From the Eyes of a Volunteer by Louisa White

Two years ago, my husband and I moved from Manhattan to Norwalk. We've managed to slow down a lot, which is lovely, but sometimes I miss the hustle and bustle. So when Debbie Nickoloff asked me to be one of the site leaders for the CVI location at this year's Food & Wine Celebration, I was excited. I had no idea what that meant, but still, it was thrilling to be asked. I'd attended the event as a guest, so I thought I had some clue about what I was in for. I was wrong. Most of my volunteering before the event had been for Veggie U: putting together kits, looking over the curriculum, etc. I hadn't seen the kitchen staff at work, nor had I spent much time over at the farm. 

CVI, The Chef's Garden, and Veggie U are all interconnected, but they work fairly separately on a day-to-day basis.

But for one Saturday every summer, all three branches come together to create this amazing evening of innovative cuisine and live entertainment. Not that I got to see much of it--being the CVI site leader turned out to mean I was stationed in that main room, with its gleaming, golden wood and big sunny windows, for most of the day. My wonderful husband took some time out from his task of driving and assisting Chef Jeff Henderson to bring me a few little bites from the main tent. My favorite was a sweet-corn sorbet with some kind of butter-bean glaze. Rita Thayer and I ran the cookbook signings, which were a piece of cake right up until we got to Paula Deen. That, of course, was a whole different story, and the frantic pace of it was exhilarating. I stood next to Paula's adorable husband, Michael, and kept the books coming as fast as I could. It was dark by the time they left and the grass was damp with dew.

I can't remember the last time I was so exhausted--or so wired. It was hard to settle down to the delicious dinner the culinary students cooked for the volunteers; questions kept popping up, needing to be resolved, and I knew I'd passed some kind of test when people I didn't know came to me with problems. It felt good to be expected to know the answers. It reminded me that I'm capable and smart, and there's a part of me that thrives on high-energy situations. Everyone knows that volunteering means helping others, but sometimes it can help us, by giving us the opportunity to expand our minds and abilities. It can help us become who we're meant to be.