Essay On Toughkeepsie Children's Home

In tenth grade, my English teacher posed the class with a question: what are you going to do for your community? She emphasized the importance of making a positive impact, even if it meant simply smiling as you hold the door open for someone. She prompted us to go out of our comfort zone and do something for our community. While I had been volunteering at Church and at school, I had never really taken a step out of my comfort zone. Instead of just helping out in, say, a soup kitchen, I decided that it was time

In Youth Core we spend a lot of time cooking meals for those staying at the Ronald McDonald house, which is a place for families to stay who have children at Children’s Mercy Hospital under long term care. These families always walk in with their faces down and bags weighing heavily under their eyes and when they walk in and see that a large dinner is already being served, a smile can be seen stretching across their face. For them to be able to come back to the house and not having to worry about dinner during such a stressful time really helps them. After dinner they always come up and make sure to thanks us for what we've done. Through Youth Core I have also helped with the many city events such as Breakfast with Santa, the Daddy-Daughter Dance, The Princess Party, City Garage Sale, and a Fishing Derby. These events have led to me getting to know many community members and getting to know a lot of people around the city, as well as building connections and feeling like I truly am helping my community. I know these events have helped children enjoy their time as youth. My favorite experience was helping a little girl make a craft that said “baby girl’s first Christmas” due to her mom being pregnant, and once she went back to her mom, her mom looked at me with a genuine smile and said thank you. Seeing other people happy truly makes me happy, even if it’s just over the smallest things. I’m there to help those who are making memories and knowing this has made me a happier

Furthermore, I have also done quite a few acts of service to my town and school even though I realize that it is not necessary for me to do so, I believe that by serving others without a reward is the best way to become a better person and leader. As a matter a fact I am a member of Frisco’s Teens4Green and have volunteered to play “Rufus the Recycling Dog” at local elementary schools, which was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. In addition, with my early release periods, rather than go home early most days, I choose to go assist some teachers if needed. By assisting them I can learn more about following in one’s footsteps to achieve a certain goal and how to aid another in a time of need. Since then, I knew that I had to serve my school in different ways rather than just teachers. I wanted to demonstrate to my class that I could be a worthy asset, and that I was there for them in wanting to make our senior year extravagant, yet

Acts of service always created a desire in me to help make people’s lives better. People often put forth their best when

In America it is stated that 1 in every 84 children live in foster care circumstances via "Statistics on Foster Care". There is a numerous amount of contrasting children from various backgrounds and ages living within these special housing homes, and many are repeatedly in and out from unstable circumstances. As children grow and mature into the new faces of the world, they face many obstacles and tribulations that will alter their lives. Living in fostering homes is a substantial example and the effects of living in these institutions can truly be great.

So, my friend and I gladly agreed to help him carry all his food and followed the boy to his apartment. When we got there, he opened the door and I was absolutely astonished at what I saw. Never in a million years would I have guessed that this boy who was always smiling and as happy as could be lived in a place that had only two pieces of furniture, an old falling apart couch and fridge with no food. This showed me that you can never really know what's going on in someone's life. The happiest of people could be going through some of the worst times of their lives. This experience and many others that I’ve had through my NCL experience are the reason that I love community service so much. Not only do I have the ability to impact someone's life through each charity I help, they also have an impact on me. I find charity work to be my biggest interest because I love seeing the impact I can have on someone’s life that they may have never had before. I am excited to continue my community service work throughout my college experience and look forward to finding a way that I can include this passion in my chosen major or future line of

Volunteering and participating in service projects are two of the most rewarding activities in my opinion. Some people may find it was a hassle or only do it because they have to meet the minimum requirement for school or work. Helping others, for me, has always been somewhat second nature to me. Over many years of volunteering I believe I have developed qualities that will stick with me for life and benefit me in my career. As early as freshman year, in high school, I found myself looking for ways to give back. I started by looking for opportunities within school, where I came across the A+ tutoring program, and so my journey of giving back began. While tutoring, my patience for others really evolved, partly by choice and partly because

Last May, I traveled with Alternative Breaks to New York for community service. During this service, I worked with Meals on Wheels who dedicate their time to provide food for the elderly of Manhattan. As I delivered the food to the seniors, I got a sense of fulfillment because I made them smile by providing them with food. Thus, I chose MDC’s Single Stop because I wanted to make a difference in my home campus by providing and assuring nourishment to those that do not have it just like I did in New York. As my first two years of college comes to an end, I wanted to leave a mark of my own here at home at Miami Dade College North Campus. During the month of September, I decided to partner up with a few of my peers to serve at MDC’s Single Stop.

At a young age I discovered a passion for helping others and I have continued to be passionate about serving my community since then. At the age of eight years old I began the first year of what would soon be my ten year membership of 4-H. Through that program and my church’s youth group I truly began to understand what selfless service was all about. I first began helping others by walking dogs at the local shelter and helping my 4-H club clean the sides of the highways. I later was able to experience several mission trips that opened my eyes to the larger aspect of service. My love for helping people continued to grow as I got older and I continued to find ways to make a difference. One of my favorite experiences was getting to help cook and serve a meal at a homeless

There are approximately 402,000 children in the foster care system on any given day of the year. In 2013, 640,000

We are FosterHope changing the lives of abused children. Under the original name of St. Francis Home for Children we have been providing foster care for over 30 years in the Sacramento Region.

Picture going to a house where eleven or twelve other kids live and you have to share a room with three of those kids. You have no personal space or somewhere to go if you want to be alone. Most likely you didn't get to take any of your personal belongings with you besides your clothes, but why would you want to take any personal belongings? Chances are they'll get stolen by another kid in the home. The foster parents are probably just in it for the money so they don't care if your things get taken. Also picture going to a new school where you know no one. We wonder why foster kids age out and why no one wants to adopt them. It’s because the homes these kids do go to are abusive or don't give these kids enough support. Everyone needs someone. Whether you want to accept it or not. You need someone who you can vent to and someone you can go to with a problem. Kids in the foster care system most likely have no one Don't get me wrong, I know there can be good homes out there for kids but for the most part,the homes for these kids are bad. Foster care laws need to be changed and re enforced.

Another meaningful experience that sticks out to me is when I regularly volunteered at a children’s homeless shelter in Roxbury, Mass. for two years, and was reminded of the fact that the statistics we hear every day about homelessness are real people – not just numbers. Every child I played alongside,

In the United States today, millions of students’ attend public schools and face some sort of violence that is associated with that school. It can be gang related or just simply bullying in the school. Because of these rising issues, parents are being forced to pull their children out of public school and home school them for their safety. Is this the best action for the children? Will they be missing out on many life skills that are learned while attending schools with peers their own age? How can the schools make our children feel safe so that they are able to attend the public schools and so that schools don’t lose out on valuable funding from the state? The idea that many believe will fix the problems at school is by implementing

I have been volunteering before I was old enough to know I was volunteering. As the youngest of four, I happily came along whenever my parents and siblings volunteered. But, community service is not just something I was taught to do; it is something I love to do. Today, I serve others in ways that are closer to my own heart. Serving people and animals “who don’t have a voice” has been and always will be central to who I am. I spent this summer raising awareness and funds for foster children, and I am excited to use those funds this November to personally decorate and deliver new duffel bags with supplies to foster children in my area. Additionally, I have loved dedicating my time to a local animal rescue where I have participated in animal