Most people know Harrison Phillips as an NFL defensive lineman. They see the tackles, the intensity, the Sundays.

But this conversation has very little to do with football.

In this episode of The Heart of the Volunteer, Paul Cummings sits down with New York Jets defensive lineman Harrison Phillips to talk about service, purpose, faith, and the people behind the scenes who make a difference every single day.

From Harrison’s Playmakers camps in Buffalo, Minnesota, Omaha, and now New York/New Jersey, this episode explores the deeper meaning behind volunteering and why impact is never created alone. Harrison opens up about identity beyond football, the importance of community, the volunteers who power his organization, and the responsibility he feels to use his platform for something bigger than himself.

Together, Paul and Harrison connect the worlds of sports, volunteering, leadership, and the fire service, showing that the “heart of a volunteer” exists far beyond the walls of a firehouse.

This is a conversation about purpose. About people. About what happens when someone chooses to show up for others.

And about why that still matters now more than ever.

What happens when someone joins the fire service for all the wrong reasons… and ends up finding exactly where they belong?

In this episode of The Heart of the Volunteer, Paul Cummings sits down with Becca Sikorski of the Lake Shore Fire Department for one of the most honest conversations of the season so far.

Becca shares her unconventional path into the fire service, the anxiety and self-doubt she battled early on, and how volunteering unexpectedly transformed her confidence, purpose, and sense of community. What began as simply wanting to be around the environment quickly became something much bigger.

The conversation dives into the reality of combination departments, the evolving challenges facing volunteer fire and EMS agencies, and the importance of leadership, mentorship, and belonging inside today’s firehouses. Becca also opens up about being a woman in the fire service, learning to prove things to herself rather than others, and the family she found inside the walls of the station.

Most importantly, this episode centers around one simple but powerful idea: “You make time… and you make time for other people’s lives, because it’s important. Our community is important.”

This isn’t just a conversation about firefighting. It’s about purpose, community, and choosing to show up for something bigger than yourself.

In this episode of The Heart of the Volunteer, Paul Cummings sits down with Chad Fraser, Chief of the Hemlock Fire Department in New York, for one of the most honest and emotional conversations yet.

This is not a hypothetical discussion about the volunteer shortage. This is what it looks like when it becomes real.

Hemlock Fire Department is facing the end of its fire district as the community has known it. After years of declining membership, limited daytime response, and the same few people carrying more and more of the load, the department is now working toward consolidation with Livonia.

For Chad, this is deeply personal. His journey into the fire service began after his own family lost their home to a fire in 2005. He saw the way local firefighters showed up for his family, and that moment led him to spend the next 15 years serving others. Over that time, he became an officer, chief, and one of the people trying to keep Hemlock going when there simply were not enough volunteers left to answer every call.

Paul and Chad talk about rural response challenges, mutual aid, aging memberships, changing communities, travel sports, COVID, training requirements, and what happens when people assume the firehouse will always be there.

But at the heart of this episode is something bigger than numbers. It is about family. It is about grief. It is about a firehouse trying to face reality with dignity.

And it is about the warning every small town should hear before it is too late.

If your town is protected by volunteers, this is a conversation worth hearing.