My Passion For Volunteering In The Community

Service activities were not always my main priority. Before my freshman year of high school, I focused mainly on my athletics and my education. I participated in basketball and softball my freshman year. For these two sports I often times was asked to help work concession stands for volleyball and football games. Some of my fellow teammates did not like to help in the concession stands; however, I loved it. I liked being able to support and cheer on my fellow Marksmen while also volunteering to help my coach and school out. Quickly learning to count in my mind and learning to make proper change without a cash register also helped me gain experience in order to obtain my first job at Chicago’s Pizza. Without having this background in

Paul’s Church I discovered my passion for volunteering in our community and others. Our group started with small activities like participating in the Perry County Youth Day of Caring and raising money for the March of Dimes event. Sister Mary Emma Jochum offered our class, in the middle of my sophomore year, the opportunity to be a part of the summer 's mission trip. I was very nervous to travel out of the state with people I did not know very well. I had heard many inspiring stories about the annual mission trips so I decided to take the chance and try something new. My first adventure was in Cincinnati Ohio. On the first night, I was exposed to many different Christian denominations and personalities of people from different states. I became closer to God in those nights associating with individuals with stronger faith than me. I also became closer to God when going out into the community and helping children and people in not the best situations. I was placed in a food bank for my first time, which exposed me to people that want to eat, yet they could only have a certain amount of weight for their food items. This causes them to choose lighter foods like cookies; they pass the canned goods because they are quite a bit heavier. When certain foods became available, like pasta, the people were so excited because these were light but also could be very filling. Even though these people were not the most well

This experience showed me that sometimes the children you least expect are the ones that need the most help. When my group first walked into the center a girl came up to me and gave me a big hug. I thought this was going to be the child that I would spend the most time with and have become my buddy. As the week progressed, I realized she did this with every group that came into volunteer. She was this kind to every stranger that volunteered. I also talked with another girl that was in a horrible accident when she was younger. She was quieter than most of the other children in the facility. She had scars on her face, and was not good at sports or other physical activities like everyone else. This girl reminded me of myself. I have a scar on my face from when I was younger also. It makes me sad that I did not take the time to get to know her as much as I should have. I did not realize she was my God sighting until it was the last day for us to be at this location. I wish I could meet with her again and see how she is doing. On the last day, as our group was leaving for the last time, I told this girl that she was beautiful no matter what anyone said and I gave her a bracelet of mine. Her face lit up and she gave me a hug. This is something I will never forget. I enjoyed working with these