In middle school I started volunteering with my mom, brother and some friends at a children's home in Denver. I had wanted to go with my mom and brother when they went volunteer, but had been too young for while. But when I got old enough, I was able to go with them, and I loved it. I would look forward to going once a month and doing crafts and games with the kids for a few hours. And as I got older, I took on the leadership role of planning the snack and crafts we would do each month. It gave me great excitement to know that I was helping these young kids. Not only was I giving them something to smile about, but I will helping them regain their trust in people. There parents and family has abandoned them, or been pulled away from them for various reasons, and so now they no longer has a reason to trust other people. And me being there, helped them learn that not everybody is bad, and not everybody will leave them. But they taught me even way more then what I taught them. They taught me that no matter what happens in your past, you can move on, and everything will be okay. They showed me what courage is. For seven years they taught me never to take my family for granted.
That is the biggest thing I have found with helping others and giving back. Is what you receive in return. You don't always expect it, but the feeling you get in your heart when you do something nice for someone else is bigger then anything else in this world. And that is what I love. I have found that the more you serve, the more you commit to helping others, the easier it becomes and the more instinctual it gets. Having volunteered at the children's home for seven years, helped open my eyes to what was happening around me, and when a need would arise, I would jump in without even thinking about it.
During my senior year of high school my mom came home from work one day and told me that one of her co-workers, who was a single mom of four young boys, had been diagnosed with cancer. I felt heartbroken, and immediately wanted to do something to help. About week later I was told that a meal train had been started for her online where people could sign up to bring different meals to her on different days of the week. I signed up write away, but noticed after a few days had passed, hardly anybody else had. This made me even more sad that other people were not willing to give a little bit of their time and money to help someone who really needed it. I decided to commit to make a meal each week for her and deliver it to her house so that she would get one day of the week where she would not need to worry about dinner. Although I wish I could have done it everyday, my schedule (being a student) and my budget did not allow. So once a week had to suffice. I did this for many months as she went through various treatments. After about six months of making meals for her, she was told that her cancer was not responding to any of the treatments, and there was nothing else they could do. She passed away shortly after. I remember every time I would deliver a meal to her house she would thank me so much and tell me what a blessing I was. She had even gone as far to nominate me for the 9 news cares award. But I didn't need award. I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, or so I thought. She was a single mother with cancer, struggling. She could no longer work, cook, do the things that mothers are suppose to do and there I was, a healthy teenage girl who loves to cook and bake. So it only seemed fitting that I help her out. Still to this day I think about all the meals I made for her and wonder if what I did really was victorious and "super hero" like of me. Because I never felt like superman wearing bright red cape and saving the day.
But maybe that is what acts of kindness are. Maybe something that you perceive to be small and rather insignificant, means the world to the other person. Maybe offering to pay for the coffee of the person in the line behind you will have a bigger impact then you think. Maybe that person has had a rough morning. Maybe they just found out that they lost there job or that a loved one is sick, and you making a small gesture, to buy them coffee, will let them know that they are not alone. That someone else, really does care for them. No matter what they are going through. And maybe they will pass it on by doing another act of kindness for someone else.
That is the beauty of giving back. It can start a chain reaction. A small, simple act of kindness, can cause other people to stop, think and doing something nice for others. Joy is being spread throughout the world. So take a minute to look around, notice the people, the places and the things. Notice if someone is going through a hard time, and offer support. It doesn't have to be anything big like giving them a lot of money, or making them something extravagant. Maybe just spending an hour of time with them, or making a meal for them will make a big impact!