The Reward of Volunteering

I am 15 years old and in Year 10 and have been volunteering for Project Impact for the last two years. I have been fortunate enough to have had had lots of volunteering experiences both pre-lockdown and now virtually due to COVID19. Pre-lockdown, I was involved in different activities and events such as learning sign language to raise awareness for deaf people, helping at a Purim fair at JW3, and even wrapping presents on Chanukah for children who might not usually receive anything. Since lockdown, I have been doing a cooking course every other weekend, on Sunday evenings. After cooking the baked goods, I drop them off on the following day to an allocated drop off point. The food goes to different people such as the homeless and ambulance drivers who don’t usually have a chance to eat due to their very busy schedule. It is crucial that in these challenging times we are all giving back to those nurses and doctors who put their lives at risk in order to save others.

While volunteering really helps others, it brings a real joy to my life and is extremely rewarding. It has made me appreciate how fortunate my life is and constantly reminds me to not take this for granted. While participating in Project Impact, I have realised how important volunteering is to me. It provides me with a great understanding of different people’s life’s and also has enabled me to gain many charitable qualities that I will definitely use in the future. I believe it is really important for teenagers to experience volunteering and give something back to the community.

Sophia L - Project ImpACT Volunteer