Helping how one can. by Marlena

Helping how one can. by Marlena - June 2014 Scholarship Essay

People experience a vast array of situations in their life that they feel they could write about. I volunteer heavily in my community and a teacher once asked me if I think that every high school student should be required to volunteer in order to graduate. My answer was no. However, I do think that volunteering is incredibly important and rewarding for both the volunteer and those they are helping. If I were to write a book, it would be about all the different ways to volunteer and become involved in one’s community and the importance of volunteering.

The way I volunteer in my community is knitting preemie hats and donating them to local Neonatal Intensive Care Units, I have donated over 500 hats to area hospitals. I also raise money for the Child and Family Life Department at the University of Michigan C.S Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The reason why I choose to volunteer in this way is a personal one: I was in Mott’s NICU for seven weeks after I was born and making hats was the way I thought I could make a true difference. My reason for volunteering is very personal, which is important in volunteering. People need to be passionate about what they are doing because it shows. The reason why I told my teacher that I do not believe that students should be required to volunteer is that people need to do something they want to do, not something they are forced to do.

There are thousands of organizations and charities across the country that need volunteers. The internet is a valuable resource to find which charity best suits an individual. A simple internet search of charities in one’s area is likely to bring up hundreds if not thousands of options. Someone willing to volunteer is bound to find a charity or organization that piques their interest.

I believe that volunteering is important to both the volunteer and the person receiving the goods or services from the volunteer. Even if the volunteer is doing a simple act such as helping repair an elderly person’s house, they are likely making a world of difference to the homeowner. People should not volunteer in order to be rewarded or recognized, but it is the best feeling when a volunteer is recognized or thanked. Before I received this one particular letter from a family whose baby received one of my hats last year, I hoped that my hats would make someone smile and maybe bring comfort and love to a family, but I never knew exactly how much a certain hat would mean to one particular family. I always provide my email and cell phone number as well as an explanation of why I like knitting hats for preemies in the box that I bring my hats to hospitals in. I did this only because one particular hospital asked me to write a little bit about myself because they like getting to know the volunteers and they asked for my contact information. A few days after donating that box of hats, an email showed up in my inbox with the subject of “baby hats” and I thought it was from another hospital about if I could bring some of my hats there, it was not. Instead it was the aunt of a baby who received one of my hats. She said that she and her sister adored the hat that I made and that they did not know how long those 60 hats I donated to that NICU would last, but they sure made people smile. Out of 500 hats that I have donated, I have received thank you letters and emails from hospital officials but that email was the only one from a family member and it meant the world to me. I printed that email and it is still on a bulletin board in my room. Whenever I feel that I don’t have time to make a hat or I question if my hats really make a difference, I look at that letter and go make a hat. It isn’t even the recognition that I am so happy about, it is that I really did make a difference in that family’s day. No, I’m not yet a nurse that can work in a NICU and have an active role in saving a baby’s life but I am doing what I can right now to make a difference in my own way. I make the hats because it is my way of helping some of the most vulnerable and bringing comfort to their families. I think that everyone who chooses to volunteer should have the intention to help someone in need and make even a small difference in their life.