Summer brought a conclusion to AP exams, AP and Honors classes, and Swim Team. Although I grateful for the much deserved break, I had an overwhelming urge to become an active member for my community. I knew I needed to obtain my mark in the world in a special way during the summer large-scale or not. However, I never thought I would volunteer at a food bank. As an acutely withdrawn and self-conscious person, I’d much rather prefer to assist out behind the scenes, as a dutiful background member. Volunteering at a busy food bank transformed me in a way I couldn’t even imagine. Being up front and center among people taught me confidence I had never experienced. While performing my countless roles (providing prayer for clients, setting up food
In 2007, I, along with a few of my peers, founded the Little Lemon Drop Jr. Guild as a way to give back to our community. Since then, this nonprofit organization has raised thousands of dollars that has gone to support uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Throughout my middle school and high school years, I have been very involved with this group. When I had the opportunity to choose a service placement for this year, I immediately knew I would be doing my service through the Little Lemon Drop Jr. Guild because of my previous involvement with the guild and my passion for the cause the guild supports.
In the summer of 2013 at a family barbeque I nonchalantly asked my aunt if there was any way I could volunteer at her job, an intercity Salvation Army Core, throughout the week. Asking this simple question that I initially didn’t put much consideration into, steered to far more than I could had ever anticipate. I projected what my experience would be like at the core playing out different scenarios in my head. I expected it to be similar to every other volunteer experience I had, simply assist the employees and perchance meet a few people along the way. I thought I would be working in a back pantry categorizing and bundling foods into care packages having minimal encounters.
The organization, which I decided to volunteer two hours of my day to, was Cumac. Cumac is located in Paterson, New Jersey and they work to serve the people in the counties of Passaic, Paterson, and Northern New Jersey. They work with a staff of 21 and volunteers from all over to help people in need with food and supplies they would need to survive. Their mission statement is: “CUMAC feeds people and changes lives. It works to alleviate hunger and its root causes for those in need in Paterson, Passaic County, and northern New Jersey.”
I’m Ines Calvete. I recently graduated from Lakewood High school where I had a very successful career. I was a part of a prestigious program called Colorado University Pre-Health Scholars for three years. I was a part of the National Honor Society for three years. I also won the Dottie Lamm Leadership Award.
A volunteer experience of mine that comes to mind is one that is probably my most favorite volunteer experience yet. It is one that I get to do at my very own school called DUCK Week (Doing Unselfish Charities for Kids), which is a week long event that I have been a part of since I joined Piedmont Schools as a second grader. What makes this charity unique is that it focuses only on a member or a few members in our very own community, which is why we are able to be so successful with it. It is easier for someone to understand the need to help when it is someone that they may know. This small town in Oklahoma rallies around community members and together we raise funds to help those in need.
In the summer I volunteered at The Columbus Refugee and Immigration Services. The Columbus Refugee and Immigration Services is an organization where refugees and immigrants come to achieve successful integration into their new American communities. Refugees come here from places all around the world, such as Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Nepal, and Burma. They go through an immense amount of culture shock, but The Columbus Refugee and Immigration Services persistently helps relieve the struggles they may go through. As a volunteer, I helped in teaching the refugees how to speak, read, and write English, and I taught them basic tools they could use in the workforce, such as counting money, behavioral norms in the workplace, and computer skills.
The place that I decided to do my volunteer experience was at Big Brother Big Sister. I choose this place because I was involved in the Big Brother Big Sister program when I was a kid. My experience that I had at the program was great, the people who ran the company were very inviting and very enthused that I had come in to volunteer for their program. The experience was very exciting because I was able to see how much the organization had grown.
Growing up in a public housing development, I longed to one day help individuals from an underserved community obtain care. At this soup kitchen, my responsibilities included welcoming guests, serving food, waiting tables, and cleaning trays. I empathized with their excitement when watching them receive a hot cup of tea on a sub-freezing day or a book bag with a built-in trench coat on a stormy day. Having an opportunity to spend time with and learn from the diversity of the population that we served was invaluable. Each person had a unique story to tell and just wanted someone to hear it.
This year I signed up to go to Feed My Starving Children thinking i’ll get more volunteer hours for the senior Medallion thingy whatever it was called. When I went to the place for Feed My Starving Children, I also went with most of my AVID class. When we got there and walked into the place we had to put on hair nets that were so irritating and most of the girls laughing and complaining about their hair. We also had to take off all the jewelry which i had on, i laughed and said to myself hecky no, all these earring in my ear were staying on. I’m not about to take them out just to loose them later so i hid my ears under the hair net.
If I went to court and pleaded guilty to being a serial killer, but exclaimed that it was all on accident do you think the court would believe me? Would you believe me? Would anyone believe that it was actually an amazing learning experience? Well let me try and convince you because to me it was. I love to garden, but I don’t have a green thumb or a brown thumb.
My first week proved to be very challenging. My favorite uncle was a veteran and I often visited him at the Missouri Veterans Home nursing center. He died several years ago, however, I remembered seeing many older veterans who did not have anyone to visit them. Many were very lonely and longed-for visitors. I had decided volunteering with the Veterans Administration Medical Center Jefferson Barracks Division would be something that I would really enjoy.
My stomach was uneasy when I walked into my local community bank. I desperately needed a new car, but only being seventeen years old, I was dubious on the chance of acquiring the loan that was so essential to putting some wheels back in my driveway. I sat down with the loan officer and my father. He asked my dad if he had faith that I could make the moderately pricey payments. My dad looked at me, and asked me, “Can you afford this car?”
What is life’s most extraordinary pleasure? For many, money, power, and/or fame come to mind, and the idea of helping others does not register. It seems for every person eager to help, there are millions ready to hurt or disregard those in need. Nevertheless, the world is not beyond salvation; there are numerous individuals willing to give their time and labor to transform the world into a better place for all. These devoted people are volunteers, and they believe life’s most extraordinary pleasure is the joy of helping others.
……….?????? I was smashing everything into my suitcase. To get everything I need into the car. When my mom started pulling out of the driveway I rushed outside with my suitcase and finally threw everything I needed into the car. And we were off.
Beneficiaries called to ask me if I wanted to perform community service at a cathedral in Dallas, TX. I agreed because I like to volunteer in any event when it is needed. This event was called “Feed the Hunger,” which I signed up for and looked forward to because of my desire to lend a hand and assist the needy and unfortunate. At first, I thought this event was just one of those other community service opportunities that I am usually called to facilitate and volunteer my time. However, in the end, this occasion was a life-changing experience.