The good Cornellians can do: Colleen Casey ’20

An avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast, Colleen Casey '20 prefers to travel car-free whenever possible. She uses the Mount Vernon Trail to travel from her home in Arlington, Virginia to the gym, to play pickleball, and to get to Washington, D.C.

A few years ago, she joined Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, a group of about 6,500 volunteers who help maintain the trail. She has since become a volunteer leader, helping to organize trail clean ups and community engagement events for the more than one million people who use the trail each year.

“It had been my goal to volunteer 12 times in 2023,” she says, “so I figured that volunteering on MLK Day was the perfect way to start the year. I don’t have a car and bike for much of my transportation, so volunteering on the trail also directly benefits me!”

Colleen says that her fellow volunteers have now become friends and are a “huge part” of her life. A few weeks ago, Colleen and her sister worked together on the trail to remove English Ivy.

“Like me, she loved how satisfying it is to help the trees!” Colleen says.

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