Personal Narrative: My Church's Beach Towel Ministry

At the age of 10 I had truly begun to realize that I lived an exceptionally blessed life. This realization gave me the strength, at just 10 years old, to break out of my shell and do something incredible for the less fortunate. For my 10th birthday party I asked for all of my guests to bring me toys instead of presents. The feeling of helping others never went away. I began to volunteer for my church at the age of 12, helping with annual festivals and events, as well as volunteering to help for my church’s Beach Towel Ministry which is a program that gathers volunteers to rebuild houses for the less fortunate. Unfortunately, I was too young at the time to actually go out and help so I would stay in and help cook meals for the volunteers, something

that I loved to do. It was not until the summer after my freshman year of high school that I was able to participate and rebuild the houses for the less fortunate. At age 14 I began to volunteer at Hammocks Beach State Park and still volunteer today. My freshman year of high school I volunteered and became the assistant director for my local middle school’s production of the musical Into the Woods, Jr. Not only was this an eye opening experience to see how I acted in middle school, but it also inspired me to teach as a future career. Teaching is one of the few ways that you can reach out to someone and it be a part of your job. As high school went on I had gained several leadership roles and one involved me organizing a service project, which thrilled me to no end. I decided to organize a beach clean-up at Hammocks Beach State Park for the group that I was in it was such a great experience for us all! Another eye opening experience for me is when I volunteered for the United Way my junior year of high school during Christmas. I volunteered for a project called Christmas Cheer which helped to give less fortunate families the chance to get toys for their children for Christmas. This was an incredible experience for I knew that my services, helping these parents find gifts for their kids, were going to good use. Through my 18 years of life, these are the few opportunities that I have done to help others, but I hope that as I embark on my journey in college I will be given the chance to help others as I have done while I was at home.