回馈是greatest joy by Lauren

回馈是greatest joy by Lauren - August 2021 Scholarship Essay

Giving back to my community is my greatest joy. I enjoy helping those in my community whenever I can. I have been a part of several different types of organizations and in each group, we have done big community projects to help give back. I have donated my time to the Stone Crab Jam in Crystal River, Florida each October and picked up trash, cleared tables, and gave directions. I have volunteered my time to the M & B dairy during the chamber of commerce BBQ and helped direct parking cars. During the holidays, I have written to the local nursing homes to help cheer them up during these hard times being away from family and friends. My FFA group and I made hygiene goodie bags that consisted of toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, hairbrush, feminine products, deodorant, soap, razors, and shaving cream. We packaged them into small colorful printed bags and donated them to the Red Cross in Inverness, Florida. These hygiene bags were created to help those who were in desperate need and didn't have the funds to provide for themselves.
2020年12月,我的4 - h俱乐部称为靴子和Bridles did an outstanding dead. This project had a huge impact on me and I will never forget it. We woke up early in the morning and drove to our local Lowes store in Inverness, Florida. We set up a large booth in front of the store. We set up our Boots and Bridles 4-H poster in front of our booth so local citizens knew who we were. Many people asked us what 4-H was and stated that we were doing such a great deed for our community. That day we stood outside of Lowes for about 6 hours asking for donations as people either walked in or out of the Lowes doors. As people asked what they were donating to we stated that we were raising money for our elders in nursing homes. We were going to be purchasing their Christmas presents and hand-delivering them to help make this year's Christmas extra special. Any extra donations that were not spent on Christmas presents for the elders we were going to use to donate to a different organization. This organization provides a Christmas for youth who are in foster care. They have little Christmas trees set up in local stores when you first walk in. You get to chose a child from infant to eighteen years of age. You get to purchase wants or needs that the child is needing or requesting such as shoes, clothes, books, school supplies, or toys. Once these items are purchased you donated them back to the store and are delivered to these children within the county who were needing the supplies. After explaining all these details to local members of the community walking by most of them were very generous to donate money to us to be able to help both of these organizations. Some only donated a few cents while others donated dollars worth. All of these donations made a huge impact on the funds we were raising that day. Some of us were asking for donations while the others inside the booth were wrapping gifts that were just purchased from inside the store. The wrapping paper that we used was plain brown wrapping paper that we decorated. We made bows and name tags for the presents as well. Some people were not interested in donating at first but after informing them of our club, what we do, and how we were helping our community they wanted to donate to us. It was about 4 pm that day when we counted what we made in donations. After about 15 minutes of counting and double counting, we made about $1,000.00 in donations. We were so excited that we were going to be able to provide for both organizations that year. After getting full approval from the 4-H extension office with our plans we got a list from the local nursing home for presents that the individuals were requesting. We went to our local Walmart and purchased supplies that the elders were requesting such as soft blankets, teddy bears, clothes, and essential products. After shopping for hours we went to the local nursing home and donated everything that we purchased. We were able to have the heart warm feeling that we were able to give back to our elders and provide for them. Many times people in nursing homes are dumped by their families and have no one to provide for them and make them feel loved. That day I believe we were able to help make many souls feel loved as if they are still loved by many.
I hope once Covid-19 settles down even more I will be able to do this type of community project again. I have always enjoyed giving to others more than I enjoy receiving. I believe that community service is an amazing thing whether it is helping locals, picking up trash, or volunteering at a shelter. Community service has had an amazing impact on my life and I will continue to give back every year.