Friends of China Camp

FOCC volunteer Michael Yoham is a super-fit and gregarious retiree who volunteers often at China Camp, helping out on the trail maintenance crew. He also makes generous donations. But what sets these donations apart is that even though he has retired from his longtime job managing rail transportation at Chevron’s Richmond Refinery, Michael is still able to take advantage of the corporation’s matching gift program, doubling his donation to FOCC.

“Michael is very generous,” Executive Director Martin Lowenstein says. “We greatly appreciate his efforts to leverage his financial gift by securing a match from his former employer. It’s great to see this happen and hope it inspires other people to find out if their employers have similar programs that could match employee donations.”

In addition to helping the park financially, Mike also helps out physically. “Mike is a get-the-job-done kind of guy,” says fellow volunteer Kevin Smead, who coordinates the trail maintenance crew. “I’m never surprised to have him pop into the park just to check on things, or to have him give me a report on trail conditions after he’s been riding his mountain bike here.” (Mike regularly logs 20 miles on rides in China Camp and elsewhere.)

A big family and room to play

Mike is a consummate community volunteer who learned his deep-seated work ethic when he was very young. When you are the fourth of 11 children, he notes, everyone pitches in, whether it’s taking care of a younger sibling, or helping your dad with his assorted jobs working on construction projects or distributing newspapers.

Mike grew up in Miami, back when some neighborhoods were still semi-rural. Having a big family meant the Yoham household was always lively.

“Our house WAS the neighborhood,” recalls Mike with a smile. “We worked and we tinkered all the time. We built forts and invented a lot of crazy things, like a bike with a six-foot-high seat.”

Every summer, several of the kids and their parents would pile into a tow-behind trailer and travel throughout the country, even to distant places like California and Alaska. “Dad loved driving,” Mike says. “He always wanted to see what was over the hill.”

As he grew older, Mike taught science and math after school, a natural follow-up to all that tinkering with his siblings. No one was surprised when he graduated from Atlanta’s Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering. His rail-management position at Chevron lasted nearly two decades.

A passion for nature, kids, and mountain biking

Over the years, he has put his many skills to work in community-service projects, including volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. But it has been Mike’s passion for mountain biking and working with young people that has been a major driving force in his life.  For the past 17 years, he has been the volunteer assistant coach for the Marin Catholic High School mountain biking team. He has also coached kids’ mountain bike teams in El Cerrito, teaching not just how to ride but also how to repair bikes and have a healthy diet.

Mike raised his own son and daughter in San Rafael and frequently cycled with them to China Camp. Both kids, now grown, grew up to have their dad’s love of nature, and worked for the California Conservation Corps before going on to become engineers.

Mike never tires of China Camp’s hills, its animals, and, most of all, its team of dedicated volunteers. His financial donations and ability to use Chevron’s matching program are deeply appreciated. And, like his father, Mike is always ready to head out and discover what’s just over the hill.

—by Janet Wiscombe/FOCC volunteer