In an age of Netflix and movies-on-demand, when watching films can be a housebound affair, one group has returned to cinema’s communal promise. Men’s Film Night, a drop-in group sponsored by AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), meets weekly in West Hollywood. Its specific aim is to “foster growth and connection among gay men living with HIV/AIDS.” “To sit in a traditional support group can sometimes be intimidating and uncomfortable. Men’s Film Night utilizes movies to create a shared experience to talk from,” says facilitator Steven [...]

David Bowie sang that we can be heroes “just for one day,” but if he were writing about the volunteers profiled here he’d surely change the lyric to 365 days. From Rochester, New York, to Los Angeles, California, organizations depend on volunteers like these to keep services flowing from staff members to individual clients and the community at large. What strikes us about these profiles is that each one touches on the positive attitude of the organization’s volunteer—eagerness, compassion, gratitude, empathy, enthusiasm—as part of his [...]