This past summer I decided that before my planned trip to Israel, I would serve my neighborhood and its residents by doing community service. I wanted to help my elderly neighbors in doing their everyday work; whether it be going food shopping for them or just providing them with a listening ear. I realized that I was getting older and maturing. Just about to enter my first year of high school, I wanted to be there for my neighborhood and help in any way possible.

It all started during the first week of the summer. I had not enrolled in any camp or for any specific activity to do before my trip in August. I consulted my parents as to what they thought I should do with my time, but before they could answer I quickly realized that one of my neighbors on the block was moving. The next day, I took it upon myself to ask the neighbor, Ruth, if she needed any help. She quickly answered, saying, “What are you waiting for? Let’s get to work.” I couldn’t have been happier. My first piece of community service was about to begin. We started by packing all of the things from Ruth’s house and loading them onto the moving truck. Although it wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, I felt such a pleasure knowing I was helping someone else and not expecting anything in return.

Two days later when everything was in Ruth’s new apartment, we began unpacking. However, this was not without incident. A difficult situation arose when Ruth’s new furniture arrived all scraped and ruined from the delivery truck. Ruth was extremely distraught and didn’t know what to do. I took it upon myself to solve the problem. I called the furniture store and spoke to the manager, explaining the predicament although at first the store denied any wrong doing, I was persistent in insisting that Ruth receive new and undamaged furniture. In the end, all was resolved, and Ruth received the furniture she deserved. Ruth was extremely grateful for my help. She even offered to pay me, but I refused. The satisfaction of helping her through the stressful move was payment enough.

Shortly thereafter, it was already the third week of summer. I was getting ready for my trip to Israel, but I felt that I still needed to do something more in order to reach my goal of helping out in my community as much as possible. I thought about the old age home in my neighborhood and went down there to ask the administration if they knew anyone who would need help. I was then given the address of an older woman that I knew who needed someone to go food shopping for her. I decided that this would be a perfect thing to do. When I called Mrs. Olsen, she was delighted to know that not only was there someone available to help her, but that it was me, a person she already knew.

The next day I went to Mrs. Olsen’s house and was given a list of items she needed me to purchase. After retrieving the items from the store, I went back to her house were she told me about her recent foot injury and the results of it. Mrs. Olsen then decided that she would reward me for helping her with a pass to her apartment building’s pool for the remainder of the summer. Although I did not expect anything from her, I was still psyched to have the pool pass.

Doing community service over the summer was really a great experience. Not only did I felt great while doing it, but it was comforting to know that I helped people in need. Community Service helped me realize how easy it is to help others. To make them feel good by showing that others are thinking about them. This experience also helped me understand that I should not take things for granted, such as simply being able to go to the local supermarket and pick up some groceries. I have been able to realize and hopefully show others how easy it is to actually help someone, and the great feeling that comes along after helping them. I hope to encourage others to do more community service, especially over the summer months when school is closed.