One Person Can Make A Difference

Thu., Nov. 25, 1999

Chantel Laturner East Valley High School

There comes a time in everyone’s life when an incident will make a major impact on your life and change your view of the world.

My time of change occurred while I was volunteering with SOCS (Student Oriented Community Service), our community service program at East Valley High School.

SOCS is a wonderful program dedicated to providing teens with opportunities they can become a part of and help better the community.

Many teenagers want to help others, but they are not aware of the ways in which they can do so. I am thankful to SOCS for helping me understand my place in the community and for helping me realize that I can make a difference.

I have always been taught to help those who are down on their luck and in need of a helping hand. I had volunteered at the Tree of Sharing.

But until a visit to the Union Gospel Mission this fall, I never realized what a difference small gestures can make.

That evening, we volunteers served a sit-down dinner to the men at the mission - instead of the usual routine of having them go through a cafeteria-style serving line.

This was an unexpected pleasure to the men. It amazed me that something so small and simple could mean so much. As we served the men, the excitement and gratitude in their eyes was overwhelming.

I knew right away that this would be a life-changing experience for me. I had gone to the mission expecting to make a difference in someone else’s life. But in the end, I was the one who was truly moved.

I found that something as simple as smiling and saying hello to a fellow citizen can make one’s day a lot better.

Traditionally, people think this is the time of the year when people need tender, loving care most of all. The holiday season is a happy time of the year in which it is better to give than to receive. Donating toys to Toys for Tots or food to the food bank for holiday meals are both wonderful ways in which one can assist those in need.

One of the best feelings in the world comes from knowing that you have made a difference in someone else’s life. It is a feeling unlike any other. It moves your soul and touches your heart.

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