The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10, "As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace." Throughout the time I have attended St. Dominic High School, I have provided a total of 115.5 service hours. The services I participated in have helped my community, school, and parish. Although some of these acts were simple, those ultimately meant the most to me. Through serving others, I have grown in my faith, knowledge, and attitude.
My grandmother's parish of St. Ferdinand holds a Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen every year. The first time we served, I was 11 years old. I did not understand the importance of helping those in poverty. For the six consecutive years that my family and I served, it was always the same. I would walk around offering food or drinks from a cart. I would ask those sitting down if they needed anything. Most of the people who visited this soup kitchen were either living alone or unable to provide a thanksgiving meal for their family members. It was an opportunity for those who are less fortunate to sit down and enjoy a hot meal in the company of
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others. Another one of my responsibilities included speaking with the people who came to the soup kitchen alone.
They occasionally started a conversation and I would speak with them for a while. Then, go on my way with the food or drink cart. It was upsetting to see the number of people who struggle to provide basic necessities for themselves. The chance to make even a small difference in the community is something to hold onto. Offering our time up to those who are suffering, made me realize how fortunate I am. There are so many things that I can experience, which those struggling with poverty may not be able to. I have the chance to educate myself in a Catholic high school and I do not have to worry about going hungry, unlike the people I served. The St. Ferdinand Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen assisted in the development of my core values and my willingness to help
others. I have volunteered for the Immaculate Conception of Dardenne's Luke 18 retreat for the past two years. These 60 service hours have meant the most to me. I was on the Cori team both years, which meant I was more involved with behind-the-scenes of the retreat. During the retreat weekends, most of my time was spent preparing the Everything Skit and the Hug Skit, praying, cleaning, and giving a three minute testimony. The Everything Skit was the turning point of the retreat. It was when all of the 8th graders attitudes changed. I played the part of a party goer, then a vanity girl the following year. Watching these 8th graders break down into tears during the skit was hard. The performance we put on included the realities that people deal with in high school and beyond. I and countless others helped the 8th graders build stronger relationships with God. The retreat has helped my leadership skills grow. The Core adult members needed someone with experience to demonstrate what it means to be a part of Cori team. I was the person they asked to help guide the younger Cori team members and sort out any confusion that may have arisen. We all put in an incredible amount of time and effort to ensure the Luke 18 retreat ran smoothly. There is nothing better than watching the young 8th graders grow into followers of Christ within a weekend's time.
The lunch bell rung at full volume as the main doors flung open. I predicted that a herd of people will rush in like the water from a spill gate. But instead every person was a line; in fact it was a neat single filed line. Another thing I was astonished to see was to the fact that every single person I served to was superbly well mannered. It was the magical word of thank-you which left great remarks in my life and made my volunteering experience an enjoyable one. After the shift, I have come to realize that everything my family and friends have said about impoverished people was nothing but just a stereotype. In addition, I have self-discovered that volunteering is what I want to do on my spare time. The joy from making new friends, appreciated and making a difference in society was too meaningful to put in words. From then on, volunteering had become one of my most highly valued priorities. Whenever I have time to spare, I will go
I equate service with helpfulness—assisting others. I help both my school community by answering questions and giving feedback and my community as a whole through my volunteer activities, the most enjoyable of which has been Habitat for Humanity.
I serve to Jesus every day by taking time out my day to help others. When my classmates or friends are struggling with something I try to assist them
This past summer, I acquired an internship at Baldwin and Lyons, an insurance company in Indianapolis. Every Wednesday during my internship, a couple of employees and I would participate in a prodigious community service project, Meals on Wheels. Throughout the three months that I worked at Baldwin and Lyons, I got acquainted with some of the individuals whom we delivered to. These inspiring individuals were so grateful and appreciative that we took time out of our day to volunteer to do such a service. One elderly woman who we delivered to would sing to us as she came to the front door “good meals, good meals, good meals.” She is one woman that I will never forget. First going into this, I was elated knowing I was I getting out of the office for a few hours. I did not comprehend the fulfillment I would receive from delivering meals to the elderly and disabled. But I am pleased and proud of the work that I have done for Meals on Wheels. There is no better feeling than doing something for someone else and seeing such gratitude for something so simple. Acts 20:35 says, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Peterson). In an effort to revisit and make a difference in my community, I have arranged that over Thanksgiving break, I work Monday through Wednesday delivering for Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana.
I am dedicated to helping out our community and school, because it warms my heart and soul. Seneca said in about 40 to 60 A.D. that you should “be silent as to services you have rendered, but speak of favors you have received.” In other words you should not boast about the numerous projects you have accomplished and how much physical work you executed, but rather pride yourself on how you helped people in community and school, and how you have affected their lives with positive means. I feel life is joyous and it should be the feeling everyone illustrates, and this is exactly what keeps me functioning in the stressful world today. I find comfort in helping others to make their lives a little more like heaven and this comfort motivates me to perform copious service projects to the best of my capability whenever I find the time. Time is fair to the rich, the poor, and to every race, because time is equal and gives everyone 24 hours daily to accomplish their required tasks. Because time is so valuable and I am occupied by difficult advanced placement and honor classes and juggle school, clubs, sports, and friends, I joined Key Club, a high school division of the adult service club, Kiwanis. Key Club opened new doors to make every extra minute count towards helping others.
When I was younger my grandfather would take me to a kitchen where I would help put together bags of food and other necessities for homeless people in the area. My grandmother worked at a nursing home so I would come up and entertain the people who didn’t get many visitors, and assist them to the best of my abilities. Helping those people every other week was so much fun, and I have always just loved helping out people in any way possible. I even helped from home, by helping my mom with bake sales that the profit made would go to various charities. I am not in StuCo, but I usually help them pack food for families in need through “Got Your
I also recently volunteered at the Cleveland Food Bank by packing lunches for under privileged children and sorting non-perishable foods for those in need. Prior to participating in volunteer services for the day, we were required to watch a video that explains the purpose of the Cleveland Food Bank and why there is a need for continuous support. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank works to ensure that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day. The mission of the Cleveland Food Bank is to alleviate hunger by providing food and support to community organizations that feed the hungry. Many people depend on the support because of their financial situation, life changes, and possible mental or physical limitations. The Food Bank acts as a storage unit and distribution facility for smaller agencies and organizations such as schools, homeless shelters, churches, and day
My senior year of high school alone, I completed over 160 hours of community service. Being a full-time student and a part-time worker, unfortunately does not allow for much spare time, but whenever I do have a chance, I always volunteer through my youth group in church. One of my biggest goals in life is being able to give back to the community on a much bigger scale. Ultimately, I hope to even go full circle and give scholarships to Hispanic student like me.
As I said earlier, one of the problem among homeless population is lack of of access to healthcare. Many homeless people were not even aware of their health problems and some of them did not even care. As a public health nurse, being aware of your surrounding and understanding the need of the people is helpful in order to provide better care. Homeless population are very vulnerable and they need a lot support from the people. I had fun doing this volunteer and it made me happy hearing homeless people say thank you for our effort in feeding
We, Aimee Johnson and Jessie Virnig, along with Amy Wilson and Shawn Klimek, decided to try to give the homeless a little hope. The week before Christmas we went door to door and collected food for the local homeless shelter. We decided to focus on collecting food because around the Christmas season, a lot of emphasis is put on toy drives and people sometimes overlook the fact that the homeless still need to eat. In order to broaden our research, we decided to collect food from more than one group of people. We went to an average middle class neighborhood and to a college dormitory. Before we went out into the neighborhood and dorms, we prepared a thank you letter to give to everyone explaining to them who we were, to tell them that we were collecting food for the homeles...
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.
I went to the grocery store and got cases of water, bags of bread, and stuff to make the sandwiches. I had finished preparing the bags and each had granola bars, fruit, ham and cheese sandwiches, water, toothpaste, and other hygiene products. My dad and I had arrived outside the homeless shelter and were ready to pass the bags out as we saw the swarm of people. Hundreds maybe even thousands of people gathered sitting in what little shade there was. I knew we had a homeless problem, but not to this extent and the bags I had made were going to make little to no difference on the vast amount of people that had been sitting outside. I was a little disappointed at first to be completely honest because I was not prepared for that many people. If I would have known there would have been so many people I would have made more bags. We drove around the block planning on what we were going to do and saw some tents set up. My dad and I were curious as to what they were, so we got out the car and saw that these people had been giving people food and I walked up to them and asked if there was any way I could help them. These people in the tents were actually an organization called Open Arms Outreach and a few girls scouts. They gladly let us help and we brought a few cases of water and the bags I had made and helped pass them out. The organization Open Arms Outreach
Following this week of fulfilment I felt I was called to serve others more than I previously had been. While I am a cantor, choir
I expected the visitors to mostly be middle aged to elderly. While I definitely saw a lot of people in that age range, I also saw a good number of younger people in need of food. Some of them even looked to be around my age, which I thought was incredibly disheartening. I should have known that food injustice could affect anyone at any age, but I didn’t fully come into my conscious until I was at the frontlines of the soup kitchen. There was a young couple with two little girls, making me realize how there are children literally born into food
I also had the privilege of helping with the Meals on Wheels non profit organization. My grandfather used to be a Meals on Wheels recipient and he would share with me how he enjoyed looking forward to their company and a hot meal daily. I volunteered because I wanted to give back and help someone else’s loved one in the same way. It was very rewarding delivering hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one as well as being there for them to talk to. Overall, it was a very humbling experience, it made me realize just how blessed I am and how much I take for granted daily.