Jenny Lin is a Grade 10 student at Sir Winston Churchill High School who was recognized by Kids Up Front and Youth Central as a part of the Pay it Forward project, recognizing youth for their “pay it forward” attitude. She was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) project at her school, Cards for a Cure. She is a beautiful and kind-hearted young girl, inside and out! Lets see what she has to say.
Please tell us a little about the Cards for a Cure YVC project at your school.
Cards for a Cure is a project at SWC that meets every Monday and Tuesday at lunch. We make tons of cards for different occasions which are sold to raise money for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.
What inspired you to volunteer for the Cards for a Cure project?
I was introduced to this Cards for a Cure project from YVC. Our teacher told us that it benefits a good cause and we could use our creativity too. Since I love putting art together and using my imagination, I decided this was a very good opportunity to help people in need and display my talent.
Where else do you volunteer? Do you participate in any extra-curricular activities?
I volunteer with YVC, so I get to do all kinds of cool projects: Bingo with elders, making sandwiches for the homeless, organizing dresses for less-fortunate girls that don’t have dresses for prom, and much more. Right now, I am employed as a guitar teacher at Music Makers. I also practice violin and am currently getting my ARCT (the Associate of The Royal Conservatory) teacher’s diploma. Whether it be composing music, writing a journal entry, or painting a still life, I enjoy all the arts. Besides the arts, most of my spare time goes to sports. I swim, dance and play rugby. At school, I participate in two clubs. I’m part of the steering committee in Leadership and YVC.
When did you first start volunteering? What inspired you to start?
I started in Grade 7 with a non-profit radio station called CJSW 90.9FM. I helped organize CDs, but labels on new albums, and stamp papers. This radio station was fairly close to my junior high school. Our social studies teacher was a volunteer there, so he decided to bring us on a field trip there one day. This radio station was what inspired me to volunteer more; it’s fun and it makes others happy too.
What advice would you like to give to the youth who are fairly new to this world of volunteering?
Don’t be afraid to try it out: it’s fun, easy, you get to connect with people, feel appreciated, make a difference in other people’s lives, learn new skills, and be aware of what others are like. Even if it’s helping your grandma wash the dishes, that’s a good start.
What does volunteering really mean to you?
Volunteering, to me, means putting others before yourself. Helping someone before your own needs. It’s walking an elderly person across a crosswalk, giving your lunch money to a homeless person, or reading to a blind person. These little acts of kindness are big contributions to making differences to our world.
Do you think you have found your real passion in volunteering? If not, what is your passion?
I have many passions, and volunteering is one of them. I feel happy when I volunteer, and spreading the joy is even better.
What are your plans for the future?
I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to go to university, find out what I’m interested in. When I do, I’ll get a job and settle down. On my off time, I would volunteer and have fun, explore the world and do what I love.
What are your future volunteering plans? Any organization that you have in mind? Or an initiative that you want to start?
I want to keep volunteering and being a leader in my community. I want to start projects that get people together and help those in need. I want to inform and get more students to find out the awesome world of volunteering.
Thank You Jennie for this awesome interview. You truly are an inspiration for the youth community. Keep up the good work!!