True happiness…is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”- Helen Keller. I chose this quote to base my essay on because I find that this to be very meaningful. One cannot go through like and do things solely for their own personal benefit. If a person goes about life that way they will never truly be happy, I believe that it is much more pleasing to give then to get. Although at time receiving makes us feel plentiful, the gift of giving to a worthy cause is just as appealing. That is why I chose to collect three meals for three days, and donate it to the veteran’s village. Initially I did not think that this gesture would feel as good as it did, but in the end, when I saw how much food was collected, I knew that a difference was being made.
When I chose this activity for my service project, I did so because I had previously visited a third world country-Haiti, as a mission trip. Once I was exposed to how much a simple act of kindness of merely giving food to children put such a smile on their face, I knew I wanted to contribute to this service project. I find that if more people participated in acts like this more often, the world would be a better place. I was lucky enough to be raised in a beautiful city in South Florida by amazing parents, who always kept a roof over my head. With that being said, it is no problem for me to give to others in need. That’s why I chose the quote from above. It just goes to show that I was given almost everything as a child but this act of giving back, makes me feel even better than before.
This service project ended up having an impact on myself and I assume the rest of the students who participated. When I walked into Professor Soldani’s office to turn in my bags of food, I was amazed at how much had been collected. The entire office was swallowed in huge bags of food. There was enough food in there to last about 30 people for 30 days. It really is amazing how much of an effect people can have if they come together for one single cause. Together my classmates and I made it possible for a large group of people to not be hungry anymore.
Overall this project made me want to do more for the community. I never really was for getting involved in helping others, which sounds awful, but I always had excuses like “I have too much school work”, but after this I definitely want to contribute more. We as people have the capability of helping others in the simplest ways. Also, some of the time money does not even need to be spent to help. Simply visiting people and giving them something to do is surely something they would appreciate. There are so many ways to help others and after this project I definitely want to be more involved with the community. Nothing is better than the feeling of making someone else happy.
Down here is a picture of the food that was delivered to veteran’s village. I cannot find the picture of all of the bags in the room unfortunately, but just imagine an office room engulfed in bags!
