Category Archives: Community Service

In high school, my friends and I had joined the Bronx Science Key Club, which is a community service club. We admired people who would go to undeveloped places and help the people there. So we did what we could and we donated blood. Also as Dan had said, free food, yay /o/. However this was back in my high school days. However after becoming high school seniors, my friends and I didn’t go to the club as much, and we ended up just hanging out together after school.

Also near where I live there is a Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. It is a club for children and teenagers alike. They have a court outside for baseball and other games, skating rink, sprinklers, indoor basketball court, pool tables, ping pong tables, etc. I went there a few times during middle school for a school trip, and had lots of fun, so i decided to volunteer there for the community service requirement. I walked around and helped look for equipment and helped the young kids. Parents would often bring them there after school or they would come themselves. Then around after 5 pm or so, the parents would come and pick them up. Sometimes I would always feel grateful for having my mom waiting at home for me.

A bad thing that happened was, since I lived in the Bronx, I was actually the only Asian there. People would sometimes just give me weird looks as if I was weird being there. Though I also met some new people, they were just as bad at ping pong as me /o/. I usually tell them that I was one of the few fail Asians that can’t play ping pong or draw . They would also often laugh at me. This community service was one of the more enjoyable life experiences. However now I would much rather find a job first.

I went to volunteer in this place less than a block from my home. They work with children—and from the looks of it, with newly arriving children from China to tutor them and teach them English. I don’t really like working with children, but the whole thing went largely uneventfully. At first, I thought it’d be a problem to be asking to volunteer in some Chinese place since, being as I’m rebelling somewhat against my Chinese culture and that I was raised in Puerto Rico, my Chinese is abysmal at best. I only know the very simplest basic understanding of Cantonese. I don’t know a single word in Mandarin—the dialect that most Chinese speak—except for the well-known “ni hao.” But it was fine. They just told me to give juice and cookies to the kids and help around the classroom. I didn’t have to do any of the actual teaching.

The whole thing went pretty uneventfully, but there was this one thing that happened that I thought I should mention. I gave some apple juice to a girl that seemed to be around 5 years old. Once I gave it to her, she asked me, “Will this make me fat?” I stayed there for a few seconds, perplexed and pondering why would a 5-year-old be worried about their weight. I then answered: No. She then asked: Why? I stare at her again for a few seconds trying to figure out what to tell her. I finally respond with what has to be the most vague answer: Because it’s apple juice.

This is one reason why I don’t like working with kids. They ask too many questions. And those questions are generally pretty easily answered, but I was definitely not expecting that question. I would’ve never thought that a 5-year-old would be worrying about her weight. It’s that a bit too early?

I won’t say that I enjoyed it, but it was better than I was expecting it to be. I didn’t quite like the people I was working with, but that might’ve just been my cynical side at work.

I did community service in church about a year. Community service was about taking care of disabled people. For first 8 months, I was assigned to take care of James. He was blind and he also suffered from cerebral palsy, a disorder that prevent  a person’s brain from developing. I really did nothing for first 6 month because James always slept, so I also slept in a sofa while other volunteers had to take people to classes and listen to boring lectures. However, I sometimes had to change his diapers. It would not be hard to change child’s diapers, but James was 6 years older than me, so it was quite a work. For remaining 4 months, I had to take care of another person, I forgot his name. I really do not want to say this, but he had terrible personalty . He wouldn’t grab a spoon or fork unless some woman is near him and he wouldn’t listen a single word from me only because i am male, but only listened to me when he needed help in going to restroom and do whatever he needs to do. He was the reason for me to quit doing volunteer jobs. Before doing community service, I always considered myself as good person, but this experience taught me that being a good person is hard to do.

Ive done my fair share of community service in high school. I was helping my community, meeting new people, and generally doing a good deed. However, id be lying if i said it wasnt a bit tedious at times, expecially since i wasnt getting paid for all those hours of work. I thought that college would be all about studying for finals and catching up on essays, and not doing more community service. BUT, since it was a requirement, i found that it was surprisingly easy to go and do a little bit more, since a) i was used to it, and knew how everything worked, and b) it was only for a few hours. On November 25th, i went with Vincent to P.S. 20 to help at a daycare. It was vincent who had worked at the place before, not me. So, i was once again entering new territory. However, i had worked with young children before, so the i easily got back in the routine. If you think of daycare as playing games and doing arts and crafts with the kids instead of a job, youll find that the experience is enjoyable, and even very emotional when you finish your service. The kids were energetic and happy, as most young children are. Since it was cold, there was the added bonus of staying inside. We simply watched over the kids as they played in the gym, and sometimes joined in in games like kickball. Since there was a senior councilor there, we never had to make any hard decisions, so in a way it was sort of like taking care of a younger sibling. We went there sometime around noon, and stayed and helped until the kid’s parents came to pick them up. It was overall a fun experience, and i made a lot of new friends. I am of the opinion that daycare is the best kind of community service, because you dont view it as a job, but as an extracurriculat activity. If anyone needs to do community service, or simply likes to help their community, i would strongly recommend daycare. Like i said before, you are not only doing a good deed, you are also setting an example for the next generation, and showing them that it is good to be responsible in society.

(We couldnt take any pictures as proof because you arent allowed to when working with young kids.)

So, I think I did a lot of things that fullfilled my community service requirement (although I’d do it either way).
First: I donated blood for that halloween blood drive. I do this every few months because it is great to know that from each donation, I can save three lives. Also, I just like the fact that I can wear that pretty purple or turquoise tape around my arm and say yeah, I donated blood today.
Second: I volunteer at a church and I help out the elderly with random things. Sometimes I help cook meals, sometimes I help clean, but all the time I bring joy and happiness.
Third: Shirley asked if anyone would like to volunteer with the BAP bakesale, and so I made a big batch of brownies for them to sell. I even wrapped each individually to keep germs away!
Well anyway, I like helping whenever I can.

I’m a volunteer firefighter for the edgewater park volunteer firehouse in The Bronx. It is the only remaining firehouse in the Bronx. For my community service I didn’t have to go anywhere since I am already apart of this organization so instead I’ll just tell you about what i do and what its like being a volunteer firefighter. I joined the firehouse last year with a couple of my friends. It’s a fun place to hang out in on the weekends but there is also responsibility that comes with being apart of it. There are two meetings every month and a drill once a week, whenever the fire horn rings every member runs up to the firehouse and then deals with the problem wheter it is someone needing oxygen, a gas leak or in the worst case a fire. You may wonder how does everyone go up once a horn rings, but where i live the community is pretty small and close so it takes less than a minute to go up there. Since joining the firehouse i have learned many lifesaving skills and more importantly it helps out the community and creates a closer community where there is trust .I am proud of my community and that is something to say when your living in The Bronx and i wished other communites could be like mine so the borough could become a better and safer place.

I’d always wanted to volunteer for a soup kitchen, so when I realized I had mandatory community service to fulfill, I began my search for a reputable organization. I ended up trekking up to 28^th and 9^th to Holy Apostle Soup Kitchen one Friday morning, not really knowing what to expect. In the end, my anxiety was unnecessary. As soon as I walked in the door, someone passing by greeted me and pointed me towards the sign-up table. There, one of the administrative staff welcomed me and helped me fill out their forms, and showed me where to store my jacket and bag. He pointed me towards the breakfast stand, where volunteers were milling about, making tea and swiping bagels. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down by myself at the emptiest table I could find, being my shy self. However, soon after, a couple of people sat down next to me, introducing themselves and talking freely. Their friendliness encouraged me to get to know them, though most of them were middle-aged or elderly. I got to talk to people who lived very differently from the way I was brought up, which I enjoyed. I was assigned to serving vegetables, and there were people guiding me the whole time I volunteered.

At the food line, I was among 8 different people preparing trays of food. I had to scoop a portion of already-cooked vegetables onto each tray and pass it along to the person next in line. I had a chance to talk to the other volunteers, who were veterans at Holy Apostle. Everyone was open to meeting new people. My arms got sore from scooping so many trays, but the whole operation really was a community effort. The most memorable part was meeting John, one of the people we served. The people we served ate in a separate part of the church floor, but after lunch was over, John introduced himself to me. I’m normally very apprehensive about talking to male strangers (haha…), but the atmosphere Holy Apostle fostered encouraged me to let go of that. I found out that he attended a church I’d heard a lot of good things about, and it was nice to enjoy his company in the 15 minutes we spent talking. I really enjoyed volunteering at Holy Apostle and the other volunteers invited me to return. I think I will.

So I was in school one day and I heard that there was free snacks and apple juice in the multipurpose room. I love snacks and apple juice. I had to go. I did not know what the occasion was-nor did I care. I had to get there before anyone else.

So I get to the multipurpose room and I see that there was one obstacle in the way to get my snacks and apple juice: Blood Drive. I had never done one before but I knew I didn’t have to be smarter than a Fifth grader so I entered myself.

Before I knew it, they were taking all the blood out of my body. But like I said: I love snacks and apple juice. I hadn’t looked at the time in a while so I decided to glance at my phone and saw that class started 10 minutes ago.

Uh-oh! Oh wait. That’s right: I love snacks and apple juice.

I decided that once I was finished I would go to the table, take everything and then blow that place. That was my plan.

In order for the lady who was stealing my blood to let me out, I tried making small talk. She would not buy any of it. But I dont like anything more than a challenge.

I pushed the rest of the blood out of my body and got over to my prize. Snacks and Apple Juice.

I was getting ready to go but then they told me I had to sit and eat. Normally I would fight this; but I love snacks and apple juice. I sat and the lady who I talked to LOVED small talk. It was extremely pleasant.

Anyways, it was time to go and I told them I would be back. I went to class and right after class, I came back and took a whole box of oreos.

I might have stolen cookies from a Blood Drive–still fuzzy on the details. But I did give a whole lot of blood. You’re welcome random person. Cherish it.

This is roughly what I looked like: