Nathan Smith - Volunteer

Since 2017, Nathan Smith has been able to witness On With Life evolve from a unique perspective. What started as an opportunity to document the creation of On With Life's therapy grounds in Ankeny has turned into an annual visit to capture ongoing progress as the campus continues to grow.

Nathan works in EMC Insurance's Loss Control Department as an innovation specialist where one of his projects involves flying drones to inspect large insured roofs. When a board member at On With Life reached out to see if someone in the department was willing to use a drone at On With Life, Nathan was the one for the job.

At the time Nathan had never heard of On With Life but has since been able to learn more about the organization, and even witness some of the work being done there during his annual visits with his drone. His favorite part about this volunteer opportunity are the moments he gets to interact with persons served.

“One time I was able to chat with a person served who was a helicopter pilot,” said Nathan. “I could tell he was eyeing the drone as I was flying it around, so I landed it to show him the different views I had captured and the various capabilities the drone had. He seemed fascinated by it.”

Since his first time at On With Life, Nathan has seen it grow with new installments to the therapy grounds (such as the putting green and work shed) and now a whole new outpatient center. The next time he comes to visit, he will see it grow again with the addition of the two new family houses that will be built in September 2024.

“It’s truly mindboggling the work On With Life does,” said Nathan. “I’m glad I am able to use my talents to help capture that.”