As featured in the Winter 2022 issue of 57° Magazine

 When Ryder Brooks was younger, his family hosted an annual fundraiser at their San Francisco home. Every Christmas season, his house would fill with classmates, neighbors, and friends, all bringing gifts for the San Francisco Toys for Tots program. And every year, local firefighters would make special appearances to play Santa for the day, picking up the presents and playing with the children. Brooks remembers opening the door to the firefighters one of those years and seeing a firetruck waiting curbside for the pickup.

Today, Brooks looks back fondly on those fundraisers. “I’ve always liked helping people. Me and my family have always wanted to do things to give back,” he says. The 16-year-old athlete and scholar at Sacred Heart Cathedral High School continues to infuse that same generosity into his daily life. Since middle school, he has been volunteering at local food banks, and last summer, he decided to get even more involved in his local community.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit California in March 2020, life changed. Students cleared out of the classroom, myriad workplaces emptied, and what many thought would only be a two-week quarantine began. At Governor Gavin Newsom’s order, the state of California went into “shelter in place” mode. Everyone sheltered, except essential workers and first responders.

As he watched law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians put themselves at risk to keep the San Francisco community safe during the first months of the pandemic, Brooks decided that he wanted to do what he could to help. Inspired by the first responders in his own family, including his grandfather who served for the San Francisco Police Department, Brooks reached out to the National First Responders Fund (NFRF).

 A San Francisco-based nonprofit that supports first responder programs, NFRF works to address awareness of and recovery from work-related post-traumatic stress that many first responders cope with every day. When Brooks heard about the program from his father, he knew he wanted to get involved with it.

Throughout the summer of 2020, Brooks worked with NFRF founder Joe Alioto Veronese and other volunteers to spread awareness about the post-traumatic stress that first responders experience and to support Bay Area first responders serving during such an unprecedented and unpredictable time . He helped plan the NFRF’s annual Stair Climb, an event held around 9/11 and during which first responders and volunteers join together to climb the Salesforce Tower stairs to raise money for first responder programs and to remember those who selflessly gave their lives. Brooks worked to spread awareness about the event and to encourage participation and donations.

One of Brooks’ favorite memories working with the NFRF was attending a Give Back Tuesday event at San Francisco’s infamous Super Duper Burgers. He spent the day passing out free burgers, crispy fries, rich, thick milkshakes, and more to first responders. Hanging out with the diners, he felt truly immersed in a community he is both personally connected to and passionate about supporting.

Brooks hopes to continue living a life led by generosity throughout college and beyond. He is eager to pursue a business degree, which he plans to use to further propel his passion for charity. Until then, Brooks will continue to excel both on the Sacred Heart Cathedral football and lacrosse teams and academically in SHC’s De Paul Scholar Program, never shying away from an opportunity to support his community. As he says, “Giving back is in my DNA.”