Time For A Change

By Lucy Copeland
Grade 10

I am an average 15-year-old girl from a small southern town. Both of my parents have good-paying jobs and can give me everything I need and many things I don’t. I have all the clothes that I want, along with shoes and money to participate in all the school activities that I want also. I also realize that there are a lot of people in my community who can’t say that. I don’t work yet and have no money to give, but what I do have is time. I have always tried to give freely of my time. I love working with people and that is where I have done most of my volunteer work.

When I was in the second grade I joined the Girl Scouts of America in my hometown. Through the Girl Scouts I learned a great deal about people and how to help my com-munity. My Girl Scout leader, Mrs. Lona, felt very strongly that even second grades could change the world. We did everything we could to make our community a better place. One of my favorite things we did in Girl Scouts was to adopt a grandmother. We visited her weekly, taking her cards and gifts we had made for her. We all loved those visits; she really felt like family. We also ran the after school program at the local public library for the librarian.

To contribute to my community I have done everything from teach classes to baby-sitting so mothers could go to work or to classes. I’m trained in CPR and a registered Red Cross baby-sitter. I have collected books for a battered women’s shelter, collected food for food drives, and rung the bell for the Salvation Army for several year with my parents. My Latest volunteer work has been to work with the middle school cheerleaders. Another high school cheerleader and myself ran the Harriman Middle School cheer-leading summer camp this year. It was great fun because I love to cheer and I love to teach.

My friends at school are also active in the community. The Beta Club had a food drive at Thanksgiving and took up donations for the REACH program. REACH is a volunteer program in our community that provides Christmas gifts to needy families. The Interact Club and FCA rang the bell for the Salvation Army this year. FCA also had an Angel Tree for our local elementary school students in need.

My church works a lot to improve the conditions for people in our community too. Most recently we sponsored a family in need and provided all of Thanksgiving dinner, and the women’s group collected personal care items for the local clothes closet.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that everyone can do something to help. The children of the community can participate through Scouts, helping their parents, and even just being kind to the people they meet. A smile and gentle word can go a long way. Children can even help the adults with the harder jobs; even little hands are welcome hands. Another big way for young and old to help is simply keeping clean. Do not create trash and litter, and if you do, clean it up.

Almost everyone can do the small things. Everyone can be kind and helpful and pick up after himself or herself without losing any time or money. If you feel the need to help more, any of our local charities or organizations would welcome a donation. Most people don’t have any problem contributing some money to charity. It’s their time they won’t give up. Time is the biggest issue, because with all the supplies in the world and no one to use them, a difference cannot be made. People would rather send a hundred dollars than use a Saturday afternoon lending a hand. It takes a lot of money, but it also takes a lot of hands. To make a change it takes a bit of commitment – a commitment of your time. One or two Saturdays or even an hour a week can make a big difference. It doesn’t matter what you do…deliver Meals on Wheels, plant a tree, or visit a shut-in. Just do something, somewhere, for someone who needs it, at least once a week.

Everyone has his own personal responsibility to keep improving the quality of life in our communities. No matter how young or old the person, there is always something you can do. You have to reach down inside yourself and find what you want to do for your community. I feel that through my donation of time to local charities, I am fulfilling my personal responsibility to my community. Now imagine what would happen if everyone, young and old, made a continuing effort to volunteer in their community. What a difference we could all make!

Answers To Questions Regarding The Required Reading

1. Manus invested economically in stable marriages. The United States invests in marriages as money, love, stability, and sometimes just to be married. People in the United States are scared to be alone.

2. Number of Years Married Number of Previous Marriages

3 0

37 0

15 0

14 0

18 0

20 0

44 0

9 0

Advice

1. Be honest.

2. Meet the father first.

3. Give each other space.

4. Everything is 50-50.

5. Talk with each other.

6. Be respectful of each other and be honest.

7. Have good communication.

8. Proverbs 3:5-6

9. Love each other.

10. Have respect and love for each other.

2. Richard Eckersley’s collective goal for the human race is to gain power, money, wealth, and status and maybe if we’re lucky, love with marriage.

4. My goal for my community is to rebuild the public swimming pool in Harriman and to have more volunteers from the community.

5. The gap between the haves and the have-nots will grow until it gets really bad. Then the gap over time will close. The process is going to be gut wrenching.

6. Lawyers resolve disputes and problems in a fair, honest, and indifferent way. This is how a democracy is supposed to work. In the USA small problems would never get solved if it weren’t for lawyers. Our size proves that.

7. Punitive damages are a better answer to bad practices than regulations because it is too complicated to regulate all life. If regulations are the answer then everything would need. One. I know the government would not take the time to govern and lay out laws to every living function. Unless the world and the people in it become perfect overnight I can see no better alternative.

8. (a) They would be available to offer services to the Xers’families.

(b) Start new businesses that would employ older people and provide more jobs.

9. The likelihood of President Clinton’s anti-poverty program really working is not good. The idea was good, but it could only work if this world could change for the better overnight. There are always bad people in the world that cancel out the good people and the good they do. The bad is starting to outnumber the good. Plus, how can you improve on something when everything takes one step forward and three steps back.

10. (a). They both have good family values.

(b) They both have a love for children.