from Lyanne’s winning essay…
“Volunteering is showing that you are aware that you are not the most important being on the planet. Volunteering means showing that there is something in this world that you care about other than yourself. To me volunteering is important, because it is a means of reaching out and helping others. If people didn’t volunteer, or there were no agencies at which people could volunteer, than things would be a lot worse off. Homeless people would have no shelter, hungry people would go unfed, and litter would pile the streets. I have done over 120 hours of volunteer work that started in my 11th grade year. I know that 120 hours is not a lot, but it’s a start…
I know that wonderful feeling you get from knowing someone cares. I for one like to be the person who shows a child, a mother in need, a dying person, a homeless person, or any other person who needs me that I care. I love the feeling you get when you see a sad, scared or unsure person smile; or when you look back, after a hard day of cleaning, on a clean patch of land that animals can once again inhabit. To me there is no better feeling. I feel that, with all that others have done for me, I’m kind of paying it forward. That is what volunteering is to me.”
