Reflective Essay: The Salvation Army

I haven’t been alive for too long and I’ve lived a pretty normal life though I do know of one specific event that changed me forever. On January 12 2010 I came home from school like every other kid in Haiti. It was a completely normal day. My mom was cooking in the kitchen, my aunt was holding my little sister while watching TV, my dad wasn’t home yet and I was by myself in the living room playing games on my dad’s computer. Then out of nowhere I hear a deep low loud rumbling noise. Right when I start to wonder what the noise was, the shaking starts. Being a normal eleven year old kid I just sat there in shock and fear and just watched as my whole world came crashing down around me. Paintings, vases silverware, my moms china set, they were

The most memorable part of my life was my first time volunteering at an animal shelter. I did not really know a lot of people. It was kind of difficult that first whole week, but I got the hang of things. The people there helped me along the way and welcomed me like a family. Getting to know those people and actually seeing that they enjoy their jobs was a very important experience.

On Monday, October 17th I volunteered to help the American Red Cross and other organizations at Purnell Swett High School. I was directed to a woman named Priscilla who oversaw a portion of the outdoor area. Our group was quite diverse. It consisted of young high school and college students, middle-aged parents, some senior citizens, and even a girl who appeared to be no more than nine years old. Everyone was in good spirits despite the recent tragedy. Our task seemed to be simple enough, however, we would soon discover it was going to take more planning. We were assigned to the rear of the school where we would sort through various bags and boxes of donations. Priscilla directed some of us to carry items to different rooms based on their size and whether the clothes were designed more males or females, children or adults. As organized piles began to form, these volunteers posted signs indicating the sizes in those piles. Priscilla asked a different group to take the flat boxes and fold and tape them to allow packing of the clothes. Another set of people were instructed to write the names of the recipients on the boxes. The final group, which later consisted of those who completed their share of the work already, was assigned to fill the boxes with appropriate items and seal them for delivery.

Throughout the past four years I have had the fortunate pleasure to immerse myself in many extracurricular activities; however, one service project has truly changed my high school experience for the better. The summer before my sophomore year I volunteered as a teacher aide for my local parish's religious education classes. A month before the classes began I received a call from the administrator asking if I would work one-on-one with a third-grade boy with special needs. As a fifteen-year-old, I had very little experience working with children with autism; however, with the help of the young boy's former instructor and the administrator, I felt reassured that I had the ability to help this young boy who was so eager to learn about his faith.

“Put your clothes to work” is a project where I collected bags of old clothes and donated them to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army was started by William Booth and his wife. They let in alcoholics, morphine addicts, and other "undesirables" unwelcome in polite Christian society. Then, the Booths started their own Christian church. They believed in not drinking, smoking, or taking drugs of any kind. The soldiers wear a uniform tailored to the state of they work. As the Salvation grew, they gained some unwanted attention by the Skelton Army. They threw bones, rats, and tar to physically assault the members of the Army. Much of this hate was filled by the pub owners because of the Army’s no alcohol mentality. So, the reason I chose this

During my time at Shullsburg High School I have participated in over 42 Pep Band sang the Star Spangled Banner over 100 times in the community and have participated in Volleyball, Band, and, Choir. I have also volunteered at Outdoor Education and also Mini Miner Olympics. I have been in regional and state CDE for Poultry. I have received a Band Letter, Band Certificate. A Choir Certificate and also got a 2nd Class A Vocal Jazz Ensemble. In Volleyball I received a Volleyball Pin, and a Bar. I also received a Captain's Pin and a Captain's Plaque. I have wanted to go into Elementary Education because I love working with kids and teaching them new things. I have Serviced Learned and helped out in numerous children activities. I went to Outdoor

When I was 13 years old, my parents started to think about moving to United States because my dad was already working here for a company. We started all the immigration related process which took a while to end. When I was 14, one day I came back from school and my parents told me we were moving to US in 2-3 months. When I heard it first, I was happy, but later I started thinking about how I will be leaving everything behind. My family, friends and neighbors whom I have been with since I was little, I will be leaving all of them in a few months. As the date approached closer, we started to pack more and more things. There was

I found my interest when I volunteered at my local Hospital. I decided to volunteer there because I found it to be a great way to not only volunteer, but to have a bit of insight as to how a career in the medical field works. In the summer of 2016, I volunteered every weekday except Friday at Kingwood Medical Center. I was placed in Pediatrics, ICU. Every shift was four hours. On Thursday and any other day I could, I volunteered for eight hours. On a Thursday I got ready to head out to my shift. I entered through the south tower, and clocked in. Every thursday I was set to go to pediatrics center. Sadly, the pediatrics center never really had much patients, so there wasn’t much to do. Mrs. Aaron, who was in charge of the volunteer department,

My community involvement started my Freshman year of High School when I began helping with the Miller Keystone blood drive. I was too young to donate but I did my part by helping sign others up. During my sophomore year it became more of a club and they trained us more so we could be a bigger help. I worked at the canteen, this continued up to this year. I have donated twice so far and plan to donate once more in May.

The agency I volunteered to work at was the Graffiti Church Ministries After-School Program on 205 E 7th St. During the school week, usually Mondays, I would take the train to this program and strive to make the kids’ days at least a little bit better. I would almost always arrive at 3:15 PM exactly and would first help the children with their homework. Helping the children was shockingly much more troublesome than anticipated. I would have to explain exceptionally basic concepts to someone who knew next to nothing about it. I remember distinctively helping a kid, Jamel, with his homework and it proved extremely difficult for me to explain the concept of time to a first grader. I attempted to clarify that a quarter, as far as time, is commensurate

Last year was the first year that I started volunteering with Shorewood Interact Club, and the best memory I have is from the Holidays Clothing Drive that Mary’s Place did. It was early December and getting pretty cold outside, my friend, Richard, and I got on the E Line heading South into Downtown Seattle. We had on our good coats and some gloves and were ready to go and do some volunteering. Once off of the E Line, we walked through the Seattle Center to get to the space that was lent out to Mary’s Place. Outside there were several dozen people waiting for the doors to open, and they looked cold and hungry. There were men, women, and children all around the entrance ready to go inside and get some food and clothes. Looking upon them, I felt pity that they should have to wander the streets while I myself slept in warm bed. Richard and I made our way inside, weaving through all of the people, and were greeted by several full time volunteers who assigned us to go man the clothing center.

Kathy, thank you so much for going with me to the Jo today. I am also grateful for all the things that you gave today. I love the dress, and it fits me perfectly. Thank you for the kitchen items that you will give.

I worked with the temples staff and organized a weekly soup kitchen to feed the less fortunate people around the area of South San Francisco and San Bruno. My tasks entailed washing dished, cleaning the mandir is there were enough people to help with the soup kitchen. Also serving food, cleaning the murtis, making the food and also going to help buy groceries to prepare the food, if needed. I volunteer at the mandir on the weekends along with my sister and my parents. This activity allows me to not only spend time with my family, but also give back to my community by preparing and serving food to the less fortunate. Additionally, in order to raise funds for the soup kitchen, as we say in hindi langar, I meet with the fundraising committee as

Today for my service learning project I headed over to Pulaski County to volunteer with the Habitat for Humanity to help build houses. The trip to Pulaski took about forty-five minutes as the I-81 was calm. Upon arriving at the work site, I took it upon myself to get acquainted with the supervisor currently present. Although, I was unable to locate the supervisor immediately, someone working at the site instructed me to fill out a wavier before I could be assigned any duties. After all that was said and done, I was instructed by a fellow volunteer to pick up a tool belt, some nails and a hammer. The first task that was asked of me was to hammer in some nails on the frame of the house. This task was simple as the places where I needed to hammer were clearly marked. The

No one could ever understand what someone else goes through in life. Being used and abused almost every day drags people down and tears them apart, making them feel worthless and no needed. Everyday waking up to arguing and fighting wondering when it will stop, just hoping and praying days will get better. Mom and dad were never together, my siblings and I had to fend for ourselves. Many days I woke up crying, wishing things were better for me and my siblings. I was super young when this all started. In 2006 At age 6 it was Ashleigh my twin, my mom and myself, then one day my mom met this guy named Chris, Chris and my mom dated for a good bit, then they got married. Chris taught my sister and I to play softball, we then tried out and he became