Saturday, January 16, 2010

Pay it Forward- by Giving Back!

Hey Faithful Readers,

With all that's going on in relief efforts in Haiti after the Jan 12th earthquake that demolished much of the capitol, I've been thinking about what it means to give back.

Most schools have graduation requirements of a certain amount of hours of community service you must complete.
What are your thoughts on this?

Do you think community service would still be done by teens without these requirements? Do you think it's important- or necessary- to give back to our community and do service? What would happen if these service requirements did not exist? Do you think it should be mandatory, like many schools are making it to be now?

With that said, most of us know why we have to (have to?) volunteer. Along with the obvious, helping the community, it does benefit you. Colleges look at what you have done, it looks good on resumes, can help you figure out what kind of job you want in the future, and- hopefully- it benefits you by making you feel good that YOU have made a difference!

So, if you do volunteer, why do you do it? Multiple reasons? If you don't, what is the reason? I'm sure we all know how busy our schedules can get and volunteering falls to the last on the list!

With this new year upon us (two thousand- 10, or twenty-10???!) maybe a new year's resolution could be to do those volunteer hours- for whatever reason or cause YOU believe in! 2010 seems like a year of change- and who better to change things than OUR generation!?

To get started with volunteering, and why it benefits YOU, check this website out!
http://www.myfuture.com/beyond/volunteerwork_all.html

Also, if you're looking for a simple way to give to the relief efforts in Haiti you can text a donation! It will charge it automatically to your phone bill- so talk to whoever pays the phone bill first! So if texting sounds like your way of giving back, then be sure to check it out:

Text: "HAITI" to "90999"
This will make a donation of $10 to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Or Text: "YELE" to "501501" which will donate $5 to YĆ©le Haiti for helping relief efforts there.

Love,

A Teen Link volunteer

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