I began volunteering with Youth Central just this summer. I’m a fairly new volunteer, but I most definitely do not feel like one. The staff at Youth Central has integrated me into the system so much so that I feel like I have known them for a long time! Just this summer I have already completed 36.5 hours of volunteering. I’ve been volunteering on projects ranging from working with seniors to working with the environment. I’ve also been fortunate enough to work with kids with disabilities as well as homeless people.
This summer I get the amazing opportunity to fly down to Toronto and compete in the Miss Canada Globe Productions Pageant at a chance to represent Canada internationally. Through my journey with the pageant, I choose to be a spokesperson for Youth Central, not because I thought it was the “right” organization, but because I have the same values that Youth Central does.
I choose to work with Youth Central because I don’t feel limited to working with only one type of cause. I am able to work with many different causes at the same time. In one step, I can make a difference in many different areas of the world.
Many youth today think that the world is too big of a place to make a difference, that one person alone cannot do it. But the secret is that it all begins with just one person. About a week ago, I had my last volunteering day at Camp Bonaventure (a camp for kids with disabilities). I didn’t know what type of difference I could make at the camp. Only then did I come to realize that although I’m not changing the world by sitting down to colour with a child, I am at least changing their day and mine. They left smiling at the end of the day, and so did I. Although I didn’t make a big change in the world, at least I know I started. And that’s the key; to start. It doesn’t matter when, as long as you do.