Volunteering is a big part of my life. When i was in high school i did a LOT of volunteering especially with the american cancer society and with a group from my high school called angels 4 champs. Angels 4 Champs was a club and Champs 4 Kids was the non profit. In Angels 4 Champs we raised money for pediatric AIDS by doing a lot of service projects.
With the American Cancer society I did Relay for Life. Relay for life is a 24 hour walk-a-thon. Schools register to take place in the event closest to them, which is usually at a high school track, a captain is elected and the captain attends captain meetings. Each school gets a plot on the grass in the middle of the track and they set up a campsite. Teams fund raise all year and then go to the event which is the most amazing thing in the world. Tons of people come together to support one cause and it's really beautiful. I was a captain all four years i was in high school, so i had a lot of experience with this event. Every event has a DJ and a lot of fun activities. Each campsite brings their own things to sell, to raise more money and often teams will bring cool activity ideas to keep them occupied the whole time. One team member must stay on the track at all times though, which is the only catch. Building up to this event family, friends, and students from the team can purchase luminaries. On the luminaries bag the purchaser puts a survivor or a person who was lost in the battle of cancer. At the event the luminaries are set up around the track and light. All of the attendees gather around the edge of the track and watch as the cancer survivors take their lap around. Everyone claps as the survivors pass and the next time around everyone joins in behind them walking around the track and to look at the names on the bags. There is no music while the survivor lap goes on and after the survivor lap every name turned in on a luminaries is read aloud and states whether they are a survivor or that we have lost them. This is the best part of the event, because it is sentimental and not a dry eye is in sight. It's just amazing how many people have won and how many people we have lost to cancer. The thing i love about this event is everyone's desire to help and raise as much money as they can for this cause. It's also amazing how much people will pull together and how much they are willing to do for this cause. At my high school we lost two students to cancer so this event was very dear to our hearts. People can amaze you when you give them the chance to. I love seeing people do their best and be happy and i love when people come together for things those things make events so magical for me. I think that is why i love this event so much.
The next events that i really love were with Angels 4 Champs. I did a lot of really interesting events with Angels 4 Champs. Our biggest fund raiser was gift wrapping at the Zany Brainy, the toy store. We used to gift wrap there during the winter holiday season and for spring holidays. Let me tell you, those were the best days of my life. I would volunteer for the whole day just because it was so much fun. I loved being around people all day and helping people by gift wrapping their presents. I became a pro gift wrapper by the end of my second day. My friends were also in Angels 4 Champs, but it was different for me because i had such a close relationship with the woman who ran it. I would sit and talk to her all day while i was gift wrapping. I was her number one volunteer my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. When I was at Zany Brainy and a lot of other gift wrappers were there i would get to stand at the door and tell people about what we were doing. This organization really helped me open up to new people and made me a lot more energetic about life. I feel like if i did not participate in Angels 4 Champs activities i would not be here today. Volunteering changed my life. Angels 4 Champs opened so many doors for me with volunteering in high school. Other activities we did with Angels 4 Champs were the AIDS walk. The AIDS walk used to be different than it is today. The walk we did was independent of the AIDS task force, but now they are together. I used to have so much fun at that walk, because i was able to meet new people and help people. Helping people is one of my favorite things in the WHOLE world. I love people and this event let me meet so many more people that i didn't even know what to do because i was so excited. I love events with people and responsibilities. I am trying to do a lot more walks now that i am settled into high school, but Angels 4 Champs and Champs 4 Kids doesn't exist anymore so I am out on my own.
I applied to start volunteering with the humane society and other animal shelters and i hope to start volunteering a lot more with outside organization while I am at Chatham. Who knows, maybe we'll have a Relay 4 Life event next year!
About Me
- Myster
- I love to explore and adventure... I can always find something new, even in the places I've been a million times. I love finding those new things... it makes my heart flutter. I appreciate all the little things in life...
7 comments:
First of all, if you ever want some backup in planning a Relay for Life, let me know – I’m very familure and would love to help organize.
Second of all, I feel like you would have perspective on this issue that I’ve struggled with for a real long time: you obviously find fulfillment and happiness in volunteering and experience a strong calling for it (as I do) but then spend so much of your time here, at Chatham, as a student, who pays monumental amounts of money into an institution that sucks time away from volunteering. While we cannot, in this world, be life-long volunteers, we can certainly pursue a career path that honors that same basic principle: give all you can to who you can with what you can. Why, then, are we stuck in this system of money, greed, and capitalism which disallows for that kind of fulfillment? I mean, are we not just taking the path of least resistance in our post-high school years, doing the college thing which will inevitably leave us in a great deal of debt that requires getting a decent job with a decent salary, potentially selling ourselves to The Man (and by that, I mean capitalism)? I really think that most of us are just here because we didn’t have anything better to do after high school but are now stuck in this cycle of money which actually hurts those who we desire to help in our lives.
I disagree that we can't be lifelong volunteers... it's all about finding your cause and being flexibly committed to it.
But instead of talking about ways of being life long volunteers - I'm interested in what y'alls conception of "service" is...
Between a 3Day breast cancer walk and a couple Team in Training events, I've probably raised close to $10,000. But all I did was ask for money... Does that count?
I think being ‘life-long volunteers’ is something more than devoting a couple of hours a month to your organization of choice, though. I think it involves being intimately committed in the same way that we are committed to our job which pays the bills (and by ‘we,’ I mean the majority of inactive Americans who I think would love doing volunteer-type work but must invest a lot of time into their paying job).
I would also say that a persynal conception of service depends on what type of service you wish to contribute: if it is your desire/calling/need to financially support different causes, then your example certainly “counts.” But if you want to enrich lives on a more persynal basis and interact one-on-one with those you’re helping, then while causes and organizations could certainly use money, I think throwing cash their way is not necessarily the answer. Thoughts?
Well, I'm not sure that those events count as just "throwning cash" their way. The fundraising itself raises awareness for the cause, which is an important mission of both the organizations I mentioned.
I also feel the need to address your comment: "if you want to enrich lives on a more persynal basis and interact one-on-one with those you’re helping,"
I think you can do that through your 9-5 job as well, and that life-long service doesn't have to be work that you necessarily do for "Free."
I am glad that you have found something meaningful to you and all of the people involved. I feel that you have a huge potential for good, whether it be towards animals, cancer patients, or children. Keep doing what you love! And also volunteering can be an excellent way to network.
I forgot to answer the question you asked on my blog.
The experiment we were trying to do was marbled paper with oil and food coloring, but it ended up being a huge mess and the food coloring wasn't sticking to the paper. Instead we decided to show the kids how soap worked by filling bottles with either just colored water and oil or those two plus a little soap. Then we explained to the children how soap works and showed them using our different sample bottles and crayon drawings of soap molecules attacking oil molecules. It was really fun.
I think it is wonderful that you have found meaningful events to devote your time to! I'm sure it is much much more than some have done---with out HAVING to do it for a club, or class (that they are just trying to pass)---
Out of everything you have done would you consider picking just one important organization to devote your time to as you go through your higher education and adulthood? (Rather than thinking in terms of being a life long volunteer to many organizations)
:)
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