For her service Jessica did a stuffed animal drive for The Children’s Center. She got the class involved by having us make posters to promote this drive. After we had made the posters, we hung them up all over the school in heavily trafficked areas to try and bring the drive to people’s attention. I believe that drives are typically an excellent way to do service for almost any cause out there. They require the selflessness of a large group of people, but people are almost always willing to give because it makes one feel good to give to a cause in need. In my opinion, drives hold up one of the main tenants of service which is simply giving to others whether that be time or physical things, and they really are the quintessential act when you think of service. I think this is why so many people in our class decided to have drives of whatever sort for their causes, because there is almost no easier way to give a large amount to an organization. This is exactly what Jessica thought as well, she said that doing this service “helped [her] realize how easy getting kids involved with service can be.”
I think this is an essential part of transitioning into a life of service and giving to others that have less than you. You simply need to realize how ridiculously easy doing things for other people is, and then you will be wanting to do it all the time because, as I said earlier, not only are you helping others but you are making yourself feel good along the way. Jessica also mentioned that she did a lot of her behind the scenes service with her siblings and how this experience with the drive and everything has made her want to continue doing service with them. This is also a very important part of getting involved with service, getting your loved ones to do it with you because you get more people involved in this kind of lifestyle and also likely have more fun while you are doing it because you are with people you love. Abram from our class says, “I love stuffed animals and I think it is a wonderful thing that we are giving these kids in need such a joyous and cuddly toy.”