Extreme Teams Volunteer of the Month - October 2025
Randy Fons is the October “Extreme Teams Volunteer of the Month!” When Alice nominated him, she said “he is someone that just steps up. He's been consistently there and he's just been a great volunteer, he's the bomb. I'm very happy to nominate Randy.” Randy is on the Projects Team, as well as being a member of the Board of Directors. His commitment and hard work are always appreciated on Work Days. On days when Randy is an Extreme Teams volunteer, he can be seen driving the ECM truck, talking with residents about their projects, and playing dumpster Tetris. Keep reading to hear more from Randy about his experience with Extreme Community Makeover.
How did you first hear about Extreme Community Makeover?
Randy has been on the Projects Team since 2020, when he found out about Extreme Community Makeover from his church’s website. “They have a link for where to go to do good things.” After volunteering regularly with his church, he discovered that being on the Projects Team was a perfect fit for him, as someone who likes to get in the middle of a project and get his hands dirty.
What is your favorite thing to experience on a Work Day?
Volunteering with Extreme Community Makeover is unique to Randy because of the immediate impact of the work being done. He gave the example of an alley that was particularly over taken with weeds on a past Work Day. “You literally could not drive the truck down the alley because everything was overgrown. And by the end of the day, it was a perfectly nice alley. By the end of your shift, you can actually see the benefit.” As someone who has volunteered with many organizations, ECM is different for Randy because of the obvious difference after a day of volunteering. “ He was drawn to volunteering regularly with ECM in particular because of the level of organization.“When you do a lot of other volunteering for nonprofits, you go in and by the end of the day, you're like, I have no idea where that's going or what's going to happen from that.”
How do you see ECM making an impact in Denver neighborhoods?
After working in the same neighborhoods for 5 years, Randy has been able to compare project sites that he has returned to multiple times. On his last Work Day, he returned to an alley that he had cleaned a few times before. After over 200 hours volunteering with ECM, all the alleys have blurred together, but this particular alley was the so dirty that it has stuck with Randy. “It was just a nightmare. There was an RV out parked along the side of the alley, and outside the RV were needles and people had gone to the bathroom outside. We went back a couple of years later to do it again, and it wasn't as bad. And when we went back this time, of the three alleys we did, it was the cleanest alley.” Randy emphasized that the biggest barrier for homeowners is just getting the projects started. “They'll take the ownership and sort of maintain that little bit of improvement in their life.” That improvement can also be seen at residences, when ECM gets a project started and they are able to maintain the improvement.
The project team does everything to make the impact during the Work Day.
Why do you think it is important / beneficial to volunteer?
Randy is an advocate for volunteering in general. “Volunteering gets you out of your own world. You experience people who are outside your circle, you learn empathy.” Randy has found fulfillment in a variety of ECM projects as well as different volunteering experiences. “I actually think it makes you a better person.”
Congratulations Randy!
Congratulations to Randy for being ECM’s Extreme Teams Volunteer of the Month! Learn more about how you can also get involved in the Extreme Teams. Check back in November to see who Randy nominated to be Volunteer of the Month!
