dtorres4422
Registered: December 2012 City/Town/Province: Houston Posts: 1
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My Second Family
There is a thin line between where I stand today and where I used to stand before I gave my heart to volunteering. I cannot explain the immense fulfillment of my heart when I know I’ve done something to help someone I did not know, who came to be my second family.
I never would have known if I had never tried, I always watched on television the anthropologist who shared what they have with others. I am young, I know some people my age rather hang out at home and play video games and such, but they say “I rather stay at home and do something I like to do”. Those people are people I like to call “Settlers”, because they settle for the comfort of their home. I rather be helping someone that needs help than sitting at home, I say that because I’ve experienced the pure joy of doing what God has shown us to do, love and help one another.
I’ve volunteered at: my local church, The Houston Food Bank, and Cleveland-Ripley Community Center. I remember when I stepped foot into the Houston Food Bank, it is so colorful, just walking in there makes you feel happy. I walked in and a very nice tall brunette lady named Kate, welcomed me and took me to this room full of carts, cans, food, and cereal, anything you can imagine. I was very overwhelmed, and thought “oh boy, I hope this goes well” and it did! Kate let me know that I was going to be filling up boxes with cans goods separated from drinks, etc. Later, Kate and others that were also volunteering put on music and we were rocking out and helping thousands of families at the same time. After all the fun, Kate let my team and I that with our help sorting out food, we had helped package food for over 2,000 families. I felt so alive, so blessed to be able to help so many families in need and I definitely planned on helping even more.
I have been inspired to make my own club that helps people in need, whatever it is. Whether it’s at church, The Houston Food Bank, or any community center if my team members and I have time to spare we can help out, because they are always in need of a helping hand. I’ve been having this idea for a while, and I actually had came up with a plan and gathered some people who felt the way I did about volunteering, but we had to accommodate to both the community center’s schedule, my team member’s schedule, and their parent’s schedule. My plan involved way more than wanting to volunteer, it was way more complicated than I thought. Since that was the case, I decided to keep volunteering on my own, and going to church helping clean the church before mass are little things that go a long way. My team members and I still meet up when everyone is available and we volunteer together, but even if it’s by myself or with a team the feeling of knowing you are giving and not needing anything in return is amazing.
I am working hard to reach my high school’s goal of 200 community service our by the end of my senior year to become acknowledge as an honorable citizen of my community. I love what I do, and I would not change it for anything, spending the whole summer as an assistant secretary at Cleveland-Ripley Community Center was the most fun ever. I was able to use my bilingual skills and I felt like I was important and needed in my community. A call that impacted me the most, was from a lady who sounded scared. I answered the phone speaking English, but she did not understand, so I was able to translate and she asked for the number to the nearest shelter for abused women. In that moment I realized why I love to spend days helping people, it makes me feel like I’ve saved a life.
I saved a life with just one phone call, with just one package of food, and with just one smile that’ll brighten up someone’s day. That is why I feel like all those people I helped are my second family, because once you help without expecting nothing in return it’s called unconditional love.
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