Small Can Be Mighty-Volunteering for Children (Persuasive revised)

Go to any high school activities director and you will get a list of ways students can volunteer as a part of a club or special school event.  Go to a church and ask the youth group leader what their teens do to volunteer in the area, and he will give you a list as long as his arm.  During the summer teens can find organizations all over their cities and towns in which to volunteer, from soup kitchens to the local zoo.  These are all wonderful things, but what about younger children? 

As an elementary school teacher, I’ve seen first hand how eager children are to be helpful.  They volunteer to pass out papers, hold doors open, carry library books, even wipe tables in the cafeteria.  They’ll do anything that can set them apart as special because they helped.  There are no shortages of job seekers.  Unfortunately, as these kids get older, this attitude often changes into “what’s in it for me?”  In middle school students will volunteer if they get out of class or some other special privilege, but many won’t bother otherwise.  By the time these students reach high school age and the opportunities to volunteer in and outside school are plentiful, they are no longer interested.  Younger children need to be given more opportunities to help others and volunteer, so that as they grow they will continue in this way as high school students and adults.               

Many children live in a very small world—mainly their family home and school.  In order to teach them about the importance of volunteering, they must be introduced to a larger world outside of their own.  Elementary schools can have a big influence in this area.  All too often, though, children are only encouraged to “volunteer” to fundraise for the school itself.  While many of these fundraisers provide things such as library books and gym equipment, schools should take the time to include events in their calendars that help a larger community.  An excellent example of this is the Empty Bowls project. 

Empty Bowls is an event where students make and decorate ceramic bowls as part of school art projects.  The school then puts on a soup and bread meal for parents and local citizens.  Empty Bowls suggests a donation of $10 per meal.  The people coming to the meal select a bowl to eat out of, and then take the bowl with them as a reminder of the event.  Students not only create the bowls, but then volunteer at the meal helping to serve the food.  In addition, Empty Bowls encourages whoever puts on one of their events to include hunger education as part of the event.  This is an excellent opportunity for teachers to expand the world of their students.  The school can designate which hunger organization will receive their proceeds, be it a local food bank or somewhere on the other side of the globe.  The happy little helpers of elementary age find their world expanded and can learn the value of helping someone they don’t even know.               

Children should be shown that small things can make a difference. A child can draw a picture or make cookies for nursing home patients.  He can pick a toy and donate it to Toys for Tots.  Parents and other relatives can initiate these things at a  low cost while teaching their youngsters the benefits of helping people—one person at a time.  A child feels the joy of gratitude just as an adult does.  To be able to see someone face to face that they have helped will cause many children to want to see the happiness they’ve brought to someone again.         

Finally, a child must be shown she makes a difference—as a child and as an individual.  An excellent example of this is ten year old Arkansas native Emily Bullington.  Emily attended her church with her mother and heard missionaries speak about hungry people in Africa.  She was so moved that she told her mother how she felt about it and decided to start a lemonade stand to raise money for African people.  What started as an effort by one little girl has blown into over $8000 of money raised.  She and her stand have been welcomed in places all over the state, including Little Rock.  Her “pie in the sky” goal is $360,000 to build an orphanage in Kenya, and as her success grows, it is becoming more of a reality.           

All of these efforts take the help of adults: teachers, parents, relatives, community leaders and volunteers.  But consider the harvest that could be sown if we all participate.  We will reap a generation of helpers, leaders, friends and neighbors who will learn earlier than some of us did how much better they can make the world.  I’m willing to invest in that future—are you?