What Important To You And How Does Service Impact Your Community

Why is service important to you and how has your service impacted your community? I attend school at one of the most economically disadvantaged schools in the state. While my family is not wealthy, I never worried about being hungry or having shelter. I am blessed, and I grew up with an appreciation for my circumstances. This gratitude led me to incorporate service into my life. My parents instilled a sense of community by encouraging me to participate in events in our town. I learned to count change in the school's concessions stand and I walked in the annual Relay for Life. My youth group raised money for various charities in Africa. These yearlong-projects were extremely rewarding. One year, we sent money to a school for disabled children. Prior to our donation, the children played with rocks and tires. With our donation, the school purchased playground equipment. The school sent us a thank-you card with pictures of the children playing. I was touched because I know our efforts made a difference in their lives, but their smiles will always stay with me.
These endeavors included clothing and food drives, seat belt campaigns, and monetary efforts aimed at various charitable causes. Additionally, I had the opportunity to organize my own event, a backpack drive. The purpose was to collect bags, refurbish them, and allocate the bags to children in my school district. The project was successful, and I was able to provide each building in our district with an ample supply of gently used backpacks for the school year. This project was simple, but gave back to the needy in our