Community service is a way to be an active participant in helping others. Lauren Pasco, a fellow freshman student here at Southwest, does just that. Pasco is a part of the S.M.I.L.E club. This club gives opportunities for students to get involved in activities such as food drives sponsored by Harvesters, and Soar nights at Grace church to help with special needs children and their siblings.

Pasco started out doing community service with Ascension church when she was around the age of eight. She was required to get a certain number of hours. Within the past couple of years, Pasco started doing it for the benefit of herself and her community.

“My favorite part is helping other people and being in a happy environment,” she said.

Pasco has volunteered in a number of different community service projects such as Harvesters food drives and food packing, soar nights at Grace church, and even activities at Southwest such as the Hoops for Hope event. An event that Pasco loved being involved in outside of S.M.I.L.E Club included the Sunrise Senior Living home and a box of craft supplies.

“My mom and I used to bring scrapbooking supplies and we would gather all of the residents and make cards with them,” Pasco said. “It was a fun way to make them happy and that made me happy too.”

A particular woman stood out to Pasco and her mom.

“I felt like we really connected. She was so cheerful and willing to do the activities, and she was very observant. She made very pretty cards,” Pasco says.

Overall, S.M.I.L.E. Club was a great addition to Pasco’s agenda. She joined to get involved in a club, but stayed because of the open opportunities to get into community service.

“It’s really nice to see the expressions and how grateful people are for your help.  It is definitely very rewarding,” Pasco said.

Another BVSW student determined to make the community a better place is freshman Renita Wilson. Wilson is part of the Kay Club. The Kay Club is also a community service club. It helps build leadership skills and character among high school students.

It’s activities are similar to the S.M.I.L.E Clubs’ activities, such as cancer awareness projects, babysitting, and making placemats for the Golden Living Center in Odessa.

“My favorite project was definitely making placemats out of greeting cards for the nursing home,” Wilson said.

The Kay Club also recycles at BVSW and makes treats for the teachers.

According to Volunteering in America, 36.4 percent of Kansans volunteer, ranking Kansas fourth out of 50 states in the volunteer rankings. Kansans have spent over 82 million hours of their time helping others in need, making almost two billion dollars in the process (V.I.A).

Not only is community service a way to help your community, it also benefits you long-term. National Service’s studies show that people involved in community service will have a 27 percent better chance of finding a job than someone not involved in community service (CNCS).

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Sources:

Renita Wilson

Lauren Pasco

www.nationalservice.gov

www.volunteeringinamerica.gov