Three cheers for volunteers!

BY LUCIA HARRINGTON
    From picking up trash in our creeks to giving food to the hungry, students are making lasting positive change.
    Volunteering is a powerful way for young people to build connections with their community and learn essential life skills. Their actions help people in need, build communities up, and preserve our planet.  

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PHOTO CREDIT: BILL BOYARSKY
DSA Key Club members perform trail maintenance at Occoneechee mountain. Key Club connects members with volunteer opportunities around the community.

     From picking up trash in our creeks to giving food to the hungry, students are making lasting positive change.
     Volunteering is a powerful way for young people to build connections with their community and learn essential life skills. Their actions help people in need, build communities up, and preserve our planet.  
     “I really got into volunteering when I signed up to be a ‘litter leader’ with Keep Durham Beautiful, and they have a program where you can learn how to run [trash] cleanups,” Theo Hubbell, senior and president of Nature Notes club at DSA, explained.
     The club participates in trash cleanups held by community organization Keep Durham Beautiful, which has many volunteer opportunities open to teens. Other  environmental volunteer work includes invasive species removal and tree planting.
     “I’m worried very much about the climate crisis, but I can't just fix it by worrying about it, so doing a little bit of volunteering is a way to feel at ease,” Hubbell explained.
      This sentiment is shared by other volunteers, who feel that being able to contribute measurable positive change to their community keeps them grounded. Community development volunteer work, in which resources are distributed to disadvantaged communities, which can be especially fulfilling.
     “There’s one program I do regularly, which is with Duke Methodist Church, and they have a food drive, where they have food coming in from grocery stores that no longer want it or need it. We organize that into little packages and we hand it to the people that need it,” Kayla Cabrera, DSA junior and vice president of Key Club, said. 
    This category also includes student friendly tasks such as packaging food, clothes, diapers, or personal hygiene items. Other opportunities trend more into the social category, such as working with animals, caring for the elderly, or mentoring kids. 
     “I help out at the religious school at my synagogue, and also with the youth group there. I’m the programming vice president, so I help to create programs to connect Jewish teens across the area,” Ruby Morphis, a junior at DSA, shared.

     Helping others through volunteering also betters the volunteer. It has been linked to improved mental health and a stronger sense of purpose. 
     “Giving back to your community, making sure that everybody can stay connected… it’s all fun, and it’s very rewarding,” Morphis reflected.
     In addition, volunteer work can help students make connections in areas they are interested in. This is great for furthering one’s career, or just making friends.
     “There are people from all walks of life who are volunteers.... Learning from their experiences is really important, but also, you can find people with similar interests,” Hubbell noted.
     For many students, the motivation to volunteer is driven by a requirement for hours for a club, or the assumption that volunteering will look good on a college application. However, many students find that once they start, they continue because they find it fun.
     “It’s great for college applications, but I honestly just do it because I enjoy it, and I have the time to do it,” Cabrera said.
     For some, the roadblock to volunteering is how to get started. A Google search can be good for general information, but talking to people in person is the best way to see what opportunities are nearby. 
     “We have volunteering clubs at DSA… go join that club! Have fun! Put it on your transcript! If putting it on your transcript is what you need to get started, to say like ‘I'm going to do this because I know it's going to look good’, that's great! And then keep looking around until you find a volunteer service that meets your fancy,” Hubbell encouraged.
     Volunteering is a great way to make the world a better place, each hour at a time. It is especially important for students, as it helps build connections and real-life experiences.
     “You learn a lot of life skills, social skills, communicating with people helps you gain different perspectives, and it just widens your view on the rest of the world,” Cabrera concluded.