Self Empowerment and Self Growth Gained Through My Community Service
Amelia Houghton
Quinnipiac University
Many people think that community service is about offering your help to people less fortunate than you; I believe this view is ignorant. Community Service is not about helping others; it’s about investing in others and investing in the greater benefit of our entire community. I participate in community service believing that the people around me are worth no less than I am and that I am no better than they are. In fact, perhaps the people I help are better off than me, because they are continuing to build up their lives every day. My future remains unknown, as my life could fall to shambles and be without a home or food. Their commitment to make the best of their situation and desire to make their lives better is incredible. Community Service is about assisting others and allowing yourself to open up to them. It requires a unbiased attitude and the rewards include self-growth, self-knowledge, and emotional satisfaction. Community Service is not about helping others; it is about empowering, investing in, and learning about yourself and others.
Before Quinnipiac University, I was involved in Girl Scouting and also in small community service projects through this work. The community service I have done at Quinnipiac University was a bridge for my own realization of a passion and growth which I possess. At Quinnipiac University I joined the program, Lives of Commitment, for freshman students. Three girls and I attend volunteer service each week in Wallingford, CT at Master’s Manna, a diaper bank, food pantry, clothing center and soup kitchen. While working at Master’s Manna, I have learned that you are not simply providing the clients with food; you are allowing them to maintain some aspect of dignity. One of my favorite jobs at Master’s Manna is working as an escort, a person who works in the food pantry. When we stock the shelves, we try to make the shelves look very organized and like a real supermarket. At the food bank, we are not just allowing the clients to provide food for their family but we are giving them the sense of actually shopping in a supermarket. The clients receive food no matter how the shelves look, but we are not only giving them food, we are allowing them to maintain pride. The act of the service is not only a short-term food supply to the less fortunate but instead a long-term preservation of self-esteem. In addition to targeting the issues of poverty, food shortages and health issues, at Master’s Manna I am also targeting the maintenance of morale, esteem, and pride in the clients.
My service has benefitted individuals, an organization, and myself physically and emotionally. Many people believe the purpose of service is to simply help; however true service teaches you about yourself and pushes you to realize more about yourself. Superficially, my community service allows me to help others, to give them food, clothing, and diapers. When truly analyzed, my service is about being supportive of the clients as well as receiving support from them. An Aboriginal Activist Group from Queensland once said “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Service for me has been a give and take process; everyone needs something and everyone has something to learn. If you go to service and put yourself above all the others, you will miss the opportunity to also receive.
In my service I have met many people, but one woman who I first met in my fourth week of service has touched me in particular. I am unsure of her name, but I do know she is involved with the church and she is attempting to get a degree working with computers. Every week I look forward to seeing her and we have become close friends. Her embrace is like a mother’s embrace, I can feel how much she cares for me and appreciates me, simply because I talk to her about her life and share my life with her. While I was going through a difficult time as my grandmother was passing away, I reached out to her and told her about it. Through this, I gained a relationship and support and she was empowered. Every week she is here for me with a hug and a kiss, with support and a priceless gift. The fifteen minutes I spend with her each week, are special and valuable to me. This is what community service is about, identifying with and bonding with others, coming together and helping each other.
Community service is about empowering others and empowering yourself. For me, my service is empowering, and I enjoy jumping in and helping the minute I get to service. At Master’s Manna, there are purple volunteer t-shirts which are only given to those volunteers which have “earned” their shirt. Before spring break, I opted to stay at Quinnipiac that Friday night so that I could attend service that night. When I walked into service, the other volunteers were all pleasantly surprised because they did not expect my service that night. That night, I worked at the table in the food pantry, portioning out the meat and frozen goods to different families. Even though this job is busy and stressful, I enjoy it. When I see that something is in low supply, I refill it. I never noticed my work ethic or my insight as something extraordinary. At the end of the night, Bob, one of the men in charge came to me with some of the other volunteers and they brought me a purple shirt. They told me that some of the volunteers had come to him and had many good things to say about my reliability and work habits. They were impressed because this is rare in their volunteers who usually come to complete service hours. I never realized I had so much to offer to the organization until then. Community service is not just about helping others, it helps you; I would not have realized how extraordinary my actions could be without my service.
Although service can prevent challenges and roadblocks, the rewards outweigh the challenges when you embrace the service. It is difficult to go into a soup kitchen and food pantry and not feel even a little guilty for all you have been provided for in life. I came from a somewhat wealthy town in Massachusetts and I am attending college. For me, it is somewhat difficult not to wonder how some people get so lucky. Everyone needs help, and even if you cannot change the world in one day, you can make a difference little by little. I am very fond of the tale of the starfish where a boy was walking with his father on a beach and threw starfish which had washed up on the shore back into the ocean one by one. When the boy’s father told him he couldn’t make a difference, the boy picked up one more starfish and said “it will make a difference to that one” (Eisely). I think the meaning of this story, that you can make a difference with every action, is reflected in my service. I cannot give each person a job, a home, and enough food for their lifetime, but I can provide them with hope, support, and motivation. My group did a can drive for the good pantry, although we only donated six hours of our time, we collected over $100 and at least four huge boxes of non-perishables. Although we cannot end the hunger, we can reduce it. The service has taught me that I can make a difference despite differences in lifestyles, communities and cultures. I learned that the smallest effort and time donation and support can mean the world to others and also be beneficial to myself.
Community Service is about empowering, investing in, and learning about yourself and others, not simply about “helping the less fortunate.” My service helps reduce hunger and aid the impoverished by making necessary goods and services accessible to them, but it also provides support, relationships and emotional aid. Although service requires a significant amount of effort, it has allowed me to learn about another realm of living and has allowed me to give and gain support. I have learned about my extraordinary perseverance, communication skills, and work ethic—and that even though I am only one eighteen year old college student, the application of these characteristics can truly make a difference. Through my community service at Quinnipiac University, I have learned that service is a valuable component of my life and that it not only requires you to give but it teaches you how to receive. I now better understand the saying that it is in giving that you receive.
Cited:
Eisley, Loren. "THE STARFISH STORY." Starrbrite.com. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.starrbrite.com/starfish.html>.
