Driving an elderly person to the doctor, sitting with a terminally ill patient so their care giver can take a much-needed break, gleaning and distributing surplus food and firewood to needy households, reading to elementary school children: These are all ways local people work as volunteers to solve local problems and make Corvallis Oregon, my home, a better place to live. What they do, what they learn from the experience, and the satisfaction they gain from helping other people are the warp and weft of the community I live in. The goal of “Local Folks” is to tell their story. I hope you will find what they have to say as inspiring and informative as I do, and maybe help you as you work to solve local issues and problems in your community.