Volunteering
"Volunteers aren't paid not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless."~Anonymous
For my Grand Finale Peace Project, I organized a group of high school volunteers to help at Autism Day at the Zoo. For the past two years, I have volunteered in the special education classroom at my high school. I knew how excited the autistic students were for this special day at the zoo, so I contacted The Autism Society Philadelphia Chapter to see if they needed any help. The President was extremely nice and said they would love for some more volunteers! Autism is a commonly occurring cognitive disorder, affecting 1 in 88 American children. It is extremely important for people to be aware and accepting of people with autism spectrum disorders. We were trying to do our part in spreading autism awareness and acceptance at Autism Day at the Zoo!
We carpooled down to the Philadelphia Zoo, and everyone was assigned a various task. Some volunteers helped with the face painting, others helped with the "Sensory Friendly Events" table, and some dressed up as cartoon characters.
I dressed up as Brobee from "Yo Gabba Gabba" and my friend, Jen, dressed up like Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street". We walked around the zoo and took free pictures with kids and even some adults, too! It was extremely hot inside the costumes, but it was totally worth it to see the happy looks on the kids' faces when they saw their favorite cartoon character in person.
We stayed at the zoo for about 4 or 5 hours. We had so much fun volunteering at this charity event, that we signed up to volunteer at another event, a Multiple Sclerosis Charity Walk, which was Sunday morning. The walk went really well, too.
At first, I carved out time to perform my volunteer activities. Then I soon realized my time was spent not doing the activity, but enjoying the experience. Right now, my future is uncertain, but I can definitely count on volunteering as a pastime for the rest of my life!