Like many UPS employees, Assistant Chief Pilot Paul Warrington spends his spare time helping others – but this story is a little different. He, his friends and family have logged more than 12,000 volunteer hours helping the needy in Cambodia over the last six years.

Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Paul and his family have dedicated their spare time to helping the impoverished and underserved people of Cambodia, half the world away. UPS has named Paul this year’s winner of the James Casey Community Service Award in recognition of his service.

The James E. Casey Community Service Award is given to one UPS employee who demonstrates exceptional commitment to helping others in their community each year. Established in 1995, the award was named in honor of UPS founder Jim Casey, who strongly believed in helping our communities. 

I talked to Paul about his experience in Cambodia and motivation to travel across the world to help strangers. Here’s what he said:

How did you become involved in helping with the Cambodia mission trips?

We became close friends with a couple in Louisville who are doctors. They had been leading mission trips to Cambodia to help provide medical care to the impoverished people of the region. My wife was the first to go and I stayed home with the kids. When she came back she really wanted me to go and have the experience. So it wasn’t until midnight the night of the cutoff that I said, “Ok, I’ll go.’  That was six years ago. Since then, between the two of us we’ve been 10 times. We’ve lead five teams.                            

How big are the teams and who goes on these trips?

On the last trip we took 23 people from all walks of life…doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers.  On average, the teams are between 15 and 25 people.

What do you do for a typical trip?

For me, it’s not just the trip. It takes six months to plan these because we do it all.  We put it out there…the date we are going. Depending on who wants to go and the talents we have, we start organizing the plan of what this group can do. We look at whether it is testing the water or going into the school and teaching hygiene or fun things like puppet shows. 

What do I get out of it… it’s the planning, the organizing and the leading of it. We do three training events before we go to teach volunteers about cultural things and what to expect. You’re going into an environment where the heat, the food, the water, the smell, the traffic…it’s all different.  If you’re not ready for it, you’ll be miserable. So really, we must prepare them. What it’s going to be like and how to come together as a team. 

What do you get out of volunteering on this project?

To lead a team of different individuals from different ages from retired down to high school students is really great. You see them come back from these trips and they are changed. I enjoy that, that’s where I get excited. They get stretched out of their comfort zone a bit and then they say, I can do this…and that’s making a difference. They come back and make a difference in their community and that’s what really gets me excited.

Here’s to Paul Warrington, his dedication and service. UPS salutes you!