Orange Public Library

This next project took place over the summer throughout the months of July and August. I worked as a teen volunteer at the Orange Public Library. My job was to help kids sign up for the summer reading program and encourage them to read as much as possible. I also handed out prizes to the kids who came back after reading a certain number of hours required to receive a prize from the library. I worked with the librarians to organize books in the Children's department whenever I had free time during my shift. I love doing this project because it allows me to be in a library all the time, which I love and it helps me become more comfortable with talking to new people. I can't wait to do this project again next year!

Vacation Bible School

I worked as a Crew Leader for Vacation Bible School at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. I have been volunteering for this every summer for a couple of years now. This year the event ran from June 21-June 25. I continue to do this project because I love being around children and I enjoy spreading God's message to the community. These kids participate in arts and crafts, singing new songs, and learning about stories from the Bible. My job in this week was to lead the children around to their different activities and help them understand everything that God has done for us in this world. What I learned from this experience is that I can't wait to become a Lutheran school teacher so that I can spend everyday with children helping them learn wonderful new things. I had a great time working at Vacation Bible School.

Community Action Partnership

On June 12, 2010 I went(along with my mom) to an event that was hosted by Community Action Partnership. At this warehouse location we met with a small group and were assigned our task of packaging food into boxes. These boxes of food would eventually be given to families in need of food to survive. We all worked on keeping our spirits high and having fun meeting new people we completed our task with ease. Throughout the 2 hours that we were there, we packed 1200 boxes of food that would be given to families who were in desperate need of this food. This event was so much fun because I got to meet so many new people and have a great time while helping people that needed our assistance. I would definitely encourage anyone who wants to get involved in volunteering to start with an event like a food bank because it is simple and fun, but also rewarding because you can somewhat see the effects of your work when you're finished for the day.

CSUF Special Games

For my next project, I volunteered at the Cal State Fullerton Special Games on May 7, 2010. This volunteer activity is one that I have been doing throughout my entire life and it is an event that I look forward to every year. This event was created by 4 college students as a class project and it is a track and field event that is created for people with disabilities. This event is different than the one put on by the Special Olympics organization because the athletes don't have to be high-functioning in order to participate in this fun-filled day. All levels of functionality are accepted in order to create a welcoming environment throughout the day. This experience annually reminds me of how important it is to remind people with disabilities that they are still valued members of society. It also shows me that it is very simple to help others and create a day of memories that they will never forget. I love playing games with the kids that come to the event because I get to see the smiles on everyone's faces, including the volunteers, because it is easy to see how rewarding this experience is for all of the people involved.

Cypress Street

I joined a group of students from my school on a volunteer project to a low-income neighborhood called Cypress Street on May 1, 2010 to help the people there. When we arrived we learned that our task that day would be weeding and planting new flowers on the main hill that overlooked the community. We were surprised when after we started working many of the families came to join us because they were so appreciative of the work that we were doing for them. They also offered us drinks and snacks, which was so kind of them and we couldn't believe that these people were so happy, simply because we were planting flowers and shrubs in their community. It was a fun event and I couldn’t believe how quickly we had transformed a hill of dirt and weeds into a hill full of beautiful flowers that would grow and brighten the community.

Second Harvest Food Bank

I went to the Second Harvest Food Bank on March 13, 2010 and my task was to attach straws to juice boxes. One might view this job as a useless task; however, this task is very important because these juice boxes would eventually be packed into big boxes of food that are given to families in need of food. We also cleaned the juice boxes to make sure that they didn't stick to anything else in the box or draw bugs to the food. By working together at this task, our group was able to prepare items to be placed in boxes of food for low-income families and these boxes of food would eventually be a gift from heaven for these families who are struggling to survive each day. This project taught me that one person can make a difference by simply taking a few hours out of their day to help other people who need a helping hand. It also taught me that if we take the time and energy to work together with others, it is incredible how amazing the results can be.

Book Doctor

On February 6, 2010 I went to the Book Doctor, which is an organization that collects books from donations and cleans/repairs them. After they have been cleaned and repaired, then the books are sent to hospital and doctor's waiting rooms to give children something to keep their mind busy while they are waiting for long periods of time. Volunteer "readers" will also go to the waiting rooms to read to the children. The books are given to these underprivileged kids to take home and enjoy as well. Through this experience I learned how lucky I am to be able to have brand new books sitting on my shelves and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to learn to read and read whenever I want to. I enjoyed this experience because I love books and this let me help people and work with books, which is the best of both worlds for me.