Albert Einstein once said “Try not to become a person of success. Rather become a person of value.” What I think he meant by this was instead of stepping over others to get ahead and be successful in life, be kind and take time to do for others. At the end of the day someone who sits behind a desk and makes a million dollars a year isn't really giving much to the world, but someone who just puts even a little effort into helping other people makes allot more of a difference.
This is why it felt good to donate food to the veterans. I went to Walmart and for under $25.00 bought enough food for three full days of breakfast, lunch and dinner for a veteran. It felt good to make a small difference because I know there are people who aren't able to provide for themselves and people who are hungry. Donating three days worth of food isn't going to change the world, but it did probably change someones day by them getting nice meals. It’s difficult for one person to make a big difference but if a bunch of people could sacrifice a couple dollars and do something like donate some food or blankets etc. It really can make a difference in someones life. I understand that everyone cannot always sacrifice 25 dollars, but maybe if every once in a while people decided not to treat themselves to something they normally do and just put it in a jar, in not too long there would be enough money for some meals. Allot of people buy things like coffee everyday and thats something that if someone went a week without or by just making it at home could save easily enough money to do something nice.
It’s not all about money though, even just volunteering time can make a difference. My Aunt works at an assisted living place and for my high school volunteer project I would go spend time with some of the people who live there. Not only did it make them feel good to have someone to talk too, but when I would leave I would feel good about myself because it’s nice to do something for someone else every once in a while. Another thing that I did was volunteer for my local little league. There weren't enough coaches one year so the commissioner of the league who was my neighbor asked me if I wanted to coach. One of my friends and I ended up coaching a team of kids who otherwise wouldn't have been able to have a team, or would have been added to other teams which would mean they would play less. That is an example of a way someone can volunteer their time and have fun too. I knew most of the kids on the team since my brother was their age and I love baseball, so it was fun to be able to coach and run the team with my friend. This is something that I have considered doing in Tallahassee. I think it would be fun to be able to coach a little league team again and all of the kids parents on the team I coached said the kids had allot of fun that year. Instead of just volunteering because it’s the right thing to do, people should take some time and look for something that they can genuinely enjoy doing because when you enjoy doing something it’s always easier to keep up and do a good job with it.
I think the impact that volunteering has had on me is it has made me more understanding that not everyone has the same things, some people have allot and some people have nothing. It has also shown me that when you help others and are just a genuinely nice person, people usually reciprocate that same kindness back and I think that is why allot of people enjoy volunteering. Even though I have no idea who the food I got went too, it still made me feel good to know that whoever received the food got some full meals and didn't have to be hungry for a few days. Volunteering is something that I enjoy doing because I know that helping others is important, but it’s really something that I enjoy doing when it involves an activity that I enjoy like baseball. Hopefully this spring one or two of my friends and I can do something like coach a little league team in Tallahassee. Not only would it be fun to do but I'm sure allot of the kids would have fun having someone our age coach their team.
