Hiding in the inner cities across America are children- children who cannot hear. Seen as burdens instead of lovable children, these often undesired Deaf and hard-of-hearing children often have limited means of communicating with their families, who often do not want to take the trouble to learn sign language. At school, the problems are multiplied. American Sign Language is not considered a language by the school system, and so, they are treated as children with a disability rather than as children learning a second language. Imagine the difficulties learning a new language while your old language is not allowed to be used! And imagine all of your school troubles multiplied by being the odd one out and not being able to hear what is going on around you. Imagine being incredibly smart in math and science (as most Deaf kids are) and struggling in English class.
Hiding in the inner cities across America are children- children who cannot hear. Seen as burdens instead of lovable children, these often undesired Deaf and hard-of-hearing children often have limited means of communicating with their families, who often do not want to take the trouble to learn sign language. At school, the problems are multiplied. American Sign Language is not considered a language by the school system, and so, they are treated as children with a disability rather than as children learning a second language. Imagine the difficulties learning a new language while your old language is not allowed to be used! And imagine all of your school troubles multiplied by being the odd one out and not being able to hear what is going on around you. Imagine being incredibly smart in math and science (as most Deaf kids are) and struggling in English class.
This year, I have volunteered a lot at school, first of all, I have to earn at least 40 hours in community service in order to graduate, so I started my volunteer effort last year (grade eleven), which was called Seniors in Cyberspace, in which I taught a senior citizen how to use the computer efficiently, for various reasons such as sending emails to friends and family, buying and selling off of eBay, or learning how to type stories on Microsoft word.
Just last month, I donated more than twenty-five hours of my time to working with the local Second Harvest Food Bank. This organization works to provide food and nutrition for all people in need within our community. As a volunteer, I helped to prepare the donated food before it was distributed to those who needed it. I worked in three-hour shifts bagging and sorting bread, vegetables, and fruits, and cutting and tying bags to hold the food. Each task may sound menial and unimportant, but while I was there, I saw firsthand the vast amounts of food collected in enormous bins—seemingly bottomless as you strive to empty and repackage them—and just how valuable a volunteer’s service really is.
I Volunteer My time.
There may be opportunities that you are not aware of, so use the link to find out what they are. You can also call your city hall or chamber of commerce. They can help you find out what is going on in your community that might be an opportunity to help out. Another great way to help your community out is to volunteer at a nursing home. Some nursing home residents have visitors but others may not have anyone to visit.
Ever since I started middle school, my elective has been Leadership(ASB). A requirement is to due at least 16 hours of community service and record it every trimester. During my first year, I had a lot of difficulty. For the last week of my first trimester, I had to stay after school every day to complete my log.
I learned a lesson from that. And that lesson was that I should take on as many offers for hours as possible. I ended the school year with a collective 50 hours. I had 60 from my 7th grade year. Two years later (this school year), I had completed 20 hours at the end of October (2 months).
I have always had an interest in volunteering in my community. At my school it is mandatory for every student to participate in 40 hours of volunteering to graduate. A lot of kids put it off to the last moment barely getting their full hours, and doing it with no smile on their faces. I have accumulated over 400 documented hours at my school and each time I do something for someone else, it brings a smile to my face.
The way I served my community is by doing two things to assist the elderly. The first thing I did was go down to an assisted living facility with my dad and sister. We taught the residents there how to make 3-D paper snowflakes and afterwards we sang and played some songs on the piano for them. We also talked with them and they really enjoyed it. The second thing I did was help out a senior citizens banquet. This banquet is hosted by the local hospital and it takes place every year. Along with my 4-H club, I helped serve food, pick up trash and bus tables.
I do a lot of community service. Mostly in the summer though, because I get busy during the school year. I've done over a hundred hours for high school. During the summertime I volunteer at the library with my two friends. We help the librarian because she has a lot of other things to do, so she needs extra hands. We sort out the new books and stamp them with a barcode and such. Then stack them up and divide them from the older books. It’s a lot of work and really redundant, but if you listen to music or talk while doing it, it gets the job done faster. I worked at the library from 8A.M to 12 noon.
I recently volunteered for my local beach cleanup day. It was an inspiring and life changing experience for both my family and me. At first I was having second thoughts about going, but I needed the community service hours for my school. I went with my family of five along with my mom’s co-workers’ and their family. We carpooled together and arrived at a beach I’ve never seen before. The view of the ocean was great but the sand was covered in broken bottles, six pack soda rings, and plastic bags. There were only about thirteen people when we arrived but the number started growing as the sun went up. By 11:00 A.M., there were more than one hundred and fifty people gathered on the beach. Plastic bags were passes around and the coastal cleanup began.
I recently moved in with some family that I have in California to finish up high school, and upon arriving here; I was thrown into this crazy schedule. There are 5 other kids besides me, and they range in age from 7-16. Given this, the family still makes room to volunteer. I also participate in a Service Learning class here that further allows me to help out the community. For example, the other day, we shipped a huge box of old ink cartridges for Cartridges for Kids.
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March – Communty Service
In March, we are challenged you to reach out to your communities and help do your part to make them better. It was amazing to see how many of you volunteer, serve, and help in your communities!
