Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 5 - Blue

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 individual accomplishments and aligns with the values of service and compassion. Volunteering isn’t a one-way, “give and take” type of exchange. Each person participating — whether they’re a volunteer or community member — is learning something new and benefiting from the experience. Ultimately, engaging with community partners, Boyd asserts, is a way for volunteers to re-engage with their internal commitments to learning. Over the course of the last year, more than 50 Lyric employees participated in the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Service & Learning Collaborative. Many attendees agreed that they would participate in another volunteering opportunity with Lyric in the future. “You always feel so much better about the world and your place in it when you spend a few hours volunteering,” adds James, who participated in the Nourishing Hope collaboration and the 2024 Earth Day clean-up. “I use the lakefront almost every day throughout the year. It was so nice to be able to spend a moment to give back to a space that gives so much to me.” From top: Lyric staff helped package foods with the Nourishing Hope nonprofit; Chief Financial & Operating Officer Vincente Milianti assists in removing invasive species in the Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve.