Jacob (shown middle, left) with members of the Solebury Service Society.
In late 2015, I volunteered for the first time independently. I decided where I wanted to spend a morning 和 what organization I would be helping. It was also the first time I had 有趣的 participating in community service. 是的，我说了那些话 有趣的 和 参与社区服务 在同一个句子里.
我到达了 美世街朋友食品银行, a community-run organization aimed at responding to hunger in Mercer County, 和, 令我吃惊的是, 虽然这个名字暗示了另一种情况, 我没有排序, 携带, 或者一直给食物贴标签. 而不是, for a good portion of the morning, I made “手火鸡”画 that would be taped to the bags of donations. While I initially questioned the motive behind making these barely like-a-turkey "h和 turkeys,我一边工作一边说。, I began to appreciate the true value of a simple, 这种行动. I realized that I'm probably not going to be able to change the world on one Saturday morning when my schedule is free. 而不是, 也许, what I managed to do when making these "h和 turkeys" was brighten the day of those receiving them. Like our work 和 social lives, our service lives must have realistic objectives, too. Once I learned to set a realistic aim for my service life, I began to have 有趣的 with it.
All too often the meaning of volunteerism is confused with simply participating or merely completing. 确定, community service looks great on a résumé 和 college applications — but this should be a byproduct of service, 不是它的主要目标. There is a noticeable difference between the 充满激情的 volunteer 和 the forced volunteer; it is not the quality of the work. Usually, it is actually what the volunteer learns from doing the work.
在韦德娱乐app下载地址学校, I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by a group of dedicated, 充满激情的, 和 realistic students that all have ideas of ways to support a community. 去年, 例如, the Solebury Service Society spearheaded 和 helped support an initiative to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane(s) Harvey, 厄玛, 玛丽亚（女名）, 和奈特. 我们筹集了近3000美元. It was incredibly encouraging to see such success. To me, however, the most inspiring service initiative throughout the 2017-18 school year was the 马丁·路德·金. 服务一天. Over fifty members of our community contributed to making blankets for donation to the Alliance Cancer Specialist at Doylestown Hospital, as well as painting 和 refurbishing furniture for sale at NOVA's (Network of Victim Assistance) thrift stores. Mostly everyone who joined us on that afternoon was 充满激情的 about the activities 和 had 有趣的. Those that weren’t enjoying themselves at first quickly became motivated by the enthusiasm of those around them. The Solebury Service Society will be hosting another 马丁·路德·金. 服务一天 on campus on January 21, 2019. 在日历上做记号! 我希望在那里见到你.
Community service is not only service to our community, but also service to ourselves. 它培养我们的兴趣, gives us a chance to reflect on 和 appreciate what we have, 促进了人类的发展. 它可以很有趣.
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