Wonderful things happen when a group of enthusiastic people come together with one simple goal: to help those in need. Acts of benevolence in a community can help to ease a financial burden, feed a hungry child, provide transportation to important appointments and so much more. Helping hands extended with kindness, compassion and respect. It makes a community stronger.
Here in our area, a handful of volunteers at Nanoose Community Services (NCS) do exactly that: they help where needed. NCS operates charitable food, education, and emergency programs with funds raised locally through sponsorship, donations and their annual Christmas Elf Program.
“We're grateful for the generous support and donations we receive for our programs from those in Nanoose and the Fairwinds Community, and we very much appreciate St. Mary's Church for our donated office space. It's a privilege to live in a community where those with plenty, share so unselfishly with those in need,” says NCS chairperson, Jean Russell. Other local events like Lesley Seselja's Art in the Garden and themed events at Fairwinds Golf Club also raise and donate substantial funds
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This method of operating the program offers recipients the opportunity to shop for themselves at Quality Foods in Red Gap, and to choose foods they prefer rather than relying on what may or may not be available from more traditional food 'banks'. “We feel it's a better way to address individual nutritional needs. Diabetics, for example, may require certain food items that aren't available to them otherwise,” explains Russell. “We encourage people to donate cash or transfer their QF Points to our Food Program; it helps immensely.” Forty-nine people in thirty-one households benefit from this critical program each month. They're eating better, and doing better. And that's what the program is exactly designed to
Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.
We rely on the community for most of the activities and events. Volunteers sign up through our website for picking up clothing and donated food, setting up the weekly event, and driving the homeless people to work.
True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the “rejects of life,” to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so that these hands – whether of individuals or entire peoples – need to be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work, and working, transform the world (45).
As social beings, humans desire interaction with others in order to attain a gratifying existence. When people are in unfortunate situations, other people come to their side. These acts are commonly known as charity. As the voluntary giving of help to those in need, charity has become the means of wealthy philanthropists to showcase their affluence and prowess. However, giving at its most basic level is attainable by any individual willing to make the sacrifice. Giving is a symbiotic relationship that not only helps those in need but also those that give. Those who give their time, talent, and/or treasure feel a sense of worth and achievement when seeing how their charity can make an impact. However, simply giving food or money does not solve the problems of impoverishment that are deeply rooted in injustice and inequality. Giving must attack the foundation and origin of poverty before any sort of success is achieved. Oxfam International works in ninety countries to right the wrongs of poverty and provide lasting solutions to injustice around the world; therefore, it is the best charity to donate one’s money.
Have you ever held open a door for someone? This is a thoughtful act. I have helped and have had people help me when I have dropped my things and it made things easier for me because I had a helping hand. Helping someone in an inconvenience can turn their day around. Helping someone could make them happier. It could also make them more confident because they know someone was there to help them. It could also help them see some good in the world if they were sad or giving up. There are many other ways that helping someone during a time of need is important.
Everyday we see someone that needs help in the community or a friend, family, or even someone at your school. Some of our greatest leaders have told us that one small act of kindness can make the world a more enjoyable place. Martin Luther King was among one of those many leaders and has created the greatest change in our society’s history. Civilization cannot merely exist without the help of one another and our society would end if humanity decided to stop being kind or compassionate. Our professors and teachers give us the materials and assistance we all need in order to reach great measures in our future. Small acts of kindness have even inspired the most influential people and has led them to
Many people have started to become obsessed with themselves and not the problems around them, this has to change. However changing a community, even a miniscule amount would require a planned, long effort by multiple people, or would it? What if a few people from a community start doing random acts of kindness whenever they have a chance or see fit? Then the people who the group affected will go out and do another act of kindness, if we can keep this process going, it could lead to a change in society. Not all of the people will continue it, but if a few from each occurrence keep the message going, this could make an impact in the community. Thinking about this, I tried to come up with a few different ideas that I could do. My first reaction was to go to the internet and look up what others have done. Searching for different actions of kindness I found delivering umbrellas on a rainy day, another was buying a lunch for the person behind me or a movie ticket. As I thought it through for a few days I decided that I wanted to do something that I came up with and not something off of the internet.
If we open our lives and give service to those less fortunate than ourselves, we allow our hearts to receive immeasurable happiness. When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. Making time to help people in need creates opportunities for us to develop new and lasting relationships. Serving our fellowmen allows the best in each of us to shine through and we can become examples to our children.
Volunteering enables an individual to make a positive impact on his or her community, while empowering the individual to better his or her life. This summer, I had the opportunity to volunteer at many diverse locations. From the hospital to the local library, I truly value my experience and treasure everything it has thought me. Volunteering lets us experience and learn things that we otherwise would not have learned; volunteering opens doors for us that we may not have been able to open before. Volunteering provides us with guidance and tolerance which we may use in the future to aid us in our decisions. At first glance, volunteering may seem to only benefit those who are helped, but on a deeper level, one can realize that volunteering benefits the volunteer as much as, if not more than, those who are helped. Not only does volunteering make a difference in one’s community, but it also helps the volunteer become a smarter, happier, friendlier and more caring individual.
Even though most people either do not think or care to take the time, I think helping people in need is a vital part of pouring into other peoples' lives, growing in compassion, and seeing a side of things that you may not be used to seeing, as to expand your knowledge and opinions of certain situations. You will also learn a lot more about yourself if you put yourself in that servant position even if it is not something that you are passionate about currently.
want to go the extra mile and help out the people in need. Visiting the food
Being helpful can make someone really enjoy that feeling most people get when they realize that what they are doing is a right thing. When someone feels good about what they are doing, they most likely want to recreate that feeling by helping the community even more. The many times someone helps, the better the community becomes. Helping the community may not cause a great impact, but it will have a little effect. The better the community becomes, the better the future will most likely become. In order to create a positive, loving, and a better future, one must take their time to help out their community because any small help can cause a great impact. A person should act to help others because there can be many benefits for themselves and others. If everyone in the world took the time to help each other, the world may eventually become a better place for the future of the minorities. All in all, a great community can be formed when a person takes their time to help those around
I have always been aware of the great positive impact which could result from feeding the hungry or constructing a house for the homeless. This positive energy flows not only to the receiver, but also to the giver. When I was asked to play with some children at Safe Place, I agreed, but I could not imagine that it would have any significant impact on the children.
The underprivileged are not the only ones that receive life changing experiences from the helping hands, the helping hands do as well. When someone’s hands are put to the test at servicing others, at the end of it all, they feel good. It is difficult to explain this feeling. The heads, arms, legs, fingers, toes, basically everything attached to the helping hands bodies feel a sensation of pride. Smiles spread across their worked out faces, and they suddenly feel up to doing it again… and again… and again. The helpful percent of the population want to spread the word about helping others. The hands suddenly are not tired anymore, and they are ready to work again. Even though the helping hands provided service to the needy, it seems as if it goes the other way
Helping Hands has helped my family in the past. Several years ago my family was struggling with income and Helping Hands was generous enough to help us pay our electric bill. I chose to volunteer at Helping Hands because I wanted to give back to the program. At the time, it seemed like there was little value in sorting piles of toys but then the manager shared with me that many children would be very happy to receive these toys for Christmas. This one comment helped me to put it all into perspective. Volunteering isn’t about me; it is about playing an active in the community. Bringing joy to families who are suffering, giving hope to the hopeless.