Giving back in an unconventional way
There is no secret that many Aurora High School students find themselves falling short in their participation in community service. There are always the basic things students do like volunteer at nursing homes, Rake and Run with Key Club, and several events that NHS is in charge of. What if students feel like they should do more for people in other countries but don’t know how to?
If a student is falling short of community service hours but feel they have a big heart with the potential to help others, students should consider sponsoring a child in a third world country or becoming a pen pal for a military member deployed overseas.
Both of these are unconventional ways to help those feel important and loved without necessarily leaving your living room. Handwritten letters are a tradition completely left in the past at this point; however, for those men and women deployed to other countries with often no other form of communication, letters are well appreciated.
The soldiers need support from back home more than ever when they are away for months on end serving our country. I personally found interest in this idea and was surprised by how easily accessible this is. Anyone who is eighteen or older can go to adoptaussoldier.org and register to be matched up with a soldier.
All you have to do is fill out general information about yourself and the people behind this organization will work to match you up with a soldier in two to three weeks and will email you all of the information you need to send letters and/or care packages to them. When you register you have the option to either commit to writing weekly or biweekly letters to a soldier for the entirety of their deployment, or commit to writing a one time letter to a soldier showing your support.
Both of these are great options for showing our troops how much we appreciate their service with a simple letter. Another option that you can choose to make a difference in someone else’s life would be to adopt a sponsor child.
Describing her contribution to her sponsor child Caroline Lukehart said, “We will hopefully sponsor Jhon until he finishes college, which is a rarity for kids in his village in Peru. He’s such a beautiful young boy and he deserves to have as much as we do.”
Websites like Compassion International will provide you with a sponsor child in another country for $38 a month. This money may seem like a lot at first glance, but this small chunk of money each month will provide all of the necessities that the child’s family cannot afford.
Caroline Lukehart, a senior who has been contributing to her sponsor child for several years now, said, “It’s crazy to think that we are literally feeding feeding, clothing, and paying for a child’s education on just $38 a month. It’s super easy to do and the benefits are worth it.”
The process of having a sponsor child is more than just having money taken out of your account each month with nothing in return.
Describing her sponsor child Caroline Lukehart said, “Jhon just turned ten a few weeks ago and we were able to give him a birthday present and show him that he’s cared for. We receive letters from him and he is like any other child, but he doesn’t have the opportunities that many of us take for granted. He lives in a mud hut in Peru and his father works as a farmer when he’s lucky enough to get work.”
Both adopting a United States soldier during their deployment and having a sponsor child are rewarding experiences that can help others in ways that no one can fully understand. While adopting a soldier is a smaller commitment than having a sponsor child, both can be equally rewarding and are worth serious consideration.
