Volunteering in my local 4-H club has drastically impacted my life.  My club focuses on ways to make our society a better place through service activities.  Every winter I lead the members in Christmas caroling to the elderly. We travel around the countryside on a school bus, and share our happiness with others who cannot get out of the house. Seeing the smiles on their faces brings such joy to me and the other carolers. Over the years we have learned that doing something for others is very rewarding. 

            The Little Elk Creek 4-H Club hosts an auction every spring. Normally, about three fourths of the proceeds go towards helping underprivileged groups. The past few years, I worked with my father and brother to run the Fair Care project. My club raised over one thousand dollars to send underprivileged children to the county fair. Being a member of 4-H, I always took the county fair for granted. Every summer I show cattle, bring drawings, and of course indulge in some good old fair food. I never understood what a blessing this was until I learned that there were children who were to poor to attend. The Fair Care program gave these children one day at the fair, complete with a lunch, ride passes, and event tickets. Stuffing goodie bags for the kids, and handing them out to their excited faces really helped me to appreciate the things that I consider every day experiences.

            One of the reasons I love the county fair so much is that it is a clean friendly environment. My whole life, I reaped the benefits of being a member of a 4-H club. However, ever since I was little, I had to help with maintenance on the fairgrounds. The grand stands hold every major event during the fair, and also host the stock car races every Friday night during the summer. These stands are filled with garbage after every event. My club volunteers to clean them so that our community members can continue to enjoy the events. Picking up all of the garbage helps me to understand why we need to pick up after ourselves. Too often do people litter, and fail to recycle. Through this experience I have learned to always look for a garbage can when getting rid of trash. Also, recycling is very important. The cans we collect from the grand stand clean-ups are always recycled to lessen our toll on the earth. 

            I regularly attend ditch clean-ups and community improvement projects with my club. Taking care of my environment makes me so grateful for the green open country I have been given. I was raised on a farm, and once again, took for granted the rolling hills and yards to run around in. Only after going through these clean-ups do I see that these things require responsibility. Trash needs to be picked up, grass needs to be mowed, signs need to be reinforced. I have learned that the community we live in is such a beautiful place because we put time and effort into maintaining it. 

            I am an active member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. I am constantly involved in service projects put on by the youth group. Annually, we go Christmas caroling to shut-ins, rake leaves for the elderly, and put on carnivals for the community.

            I take great pride in being a contributing artist for the church newsletter. Every month I illustrate a new chapter of a devotional series my father wrote for our friends and neighbors. The series is based off of my family’s journey when we moved to our farm. This is a chance for me to give back to my community by using my time and talents. I have loved art my whole life, and it is very rewarding to use my gifts to encourage others. Too often we get caught up in what we feel we need, instead of offering hope and encouragement to those around us. I love bringing happiness to others by illustrating the events of my past.

            I am a member of my school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. We have a great emphasis on community service, and hold numerous road-side pick-ups and blood drives throughout the school year. I really enjoy helping with these activities, and I donate when I can. This is an opportunity to not only change a life, it is a chance to save a life. By giving your time, and something as simple as your blood, you can help to save someone in desperate need. This is yet another opportunity for me to see how my decisions affect others.

            My passion for service has impacted my life greatly by helping me to decide my career path. I want to be a Pharmacist. The medical field has always appealed to me because it is a way to help those who cannot help themselves. There are so many people in the world who are suffering from a disease they can do nothing about. They need people like me to bring them hope and encouragement. I cannot wait for the opportunity to discover the cure to a disease that is inhibiting someone’s life. It would be so difficult to be faced with something as challenging as a life-threatening disease. If I were in that position, I would hope for someone who could bring me hope and happiness in life. That is what I want to do for my friends and neighbors. I believe that becoming a Pharmacist would be an excellent way to serve those around me.

            For these reasons, community service has always been and will always be an important part of my life. It has molded my personality, and has helped me to determine what is important in life. I am so blessed to have been involved in the Little Elk Creek 4-H Club, and to have the opportunities to give back. This and my church have taught me such important life lessons. Because of community service, I have learned to look to the needs of my community and those around me instead of focusing on myself.