做社区服务，我有何收获？

许多美国青少年都会参与社区服务。社区服务是指一个人自愿利用自己的时间为陌生人提供帮助。青少年志愿者的动机也许各有不同，但较为常见的理由包括：社交联系（作为学校活动或俱乐部活动的一部分，学生们聚在一起担任志愿者）、利他主义、宗教原因、“美化”大学申请文书等等。我的动机略有不同。激励我行动的是一盘三明治……

在一个周五的下午，我学校的餐厅员工摆出了一盘三明治。这些三明治是免费提供给学生的，因为如果再不吃掉的话，这些三明治到了周末就会变质。我看到一个女孩拿了六七块三明治，便问她为什么拿这么多。她说，她会把这些三明治带回家，好让自己和兄弟在周六有东西可吃。她的话让我吃了一惊，因为我原本以为我们学校的学生都相当富裕，这件事促使我发起了一项活动，旨在缓解我所在社区的儿童饥饿问题。

我把这个活动命名为“多一分播种，多一分成长”。我请求农民和园丁播种更多的水果和蔬菜，这样他们在收获季节就可以有多余的农产品用来捐献。这项活动的运作时间是在夏季，此时由于学校关门放假，来自低收入家庭的学生没法享受到免费或低价的学校饭菜。“多一分播种，多一分成长”活动现在已经进入第三个年头。迄今为止，我们收到的捐赠农产品已达1400磅，受益家庭达2200户。

这个简单朴素的理念吸引了人们的注意。我因此获得了数项国家级荣誉，比如国会金质奖章，我还被评选为女童子军全国杰出年轻女性之一。不过，我从社区服务中得到的收获更加重要。我懂得了，我不必请求准许去解决问题。我懂得了，我可以从始至终地贯彻一个理念，并与他人合作来让使我们的社区变得更加强大。我懂得了，一个充满热情的人可以鼓舞整个社区。我懂得了，领导力可以通过服务他人来实现。

- Katie D.，19岁. 全日制学生. 佐治亚州盖恩斯维尔. 

What I Learned From Community Service

Many American teenagers are involved in community service. Community service is when you volunteer your time to help other people, usually people you don’t know. The motivations of teen volunteers may vary, but common reasons for teen involvement include: social connections (students volunteer together as part of a school or club activity), altruism, religion, and because it looks good on applications for universities. My motivation was a little different. A platter of sandwiches motivated me…

One Friday afternoon, the cafeteria staff at my school set out a platter of sandwiches. They were free for students to take because they would spoil over the weekend if they weren’t consumed. I saw one girl taking about six or seven sandwiches and I asked her why. She said she was taking the sandwiches home so that she and her brother would have something to eat on Saturday. This surprised me because I thought our school was fairly affluent and it inspired me to start a program to reduce child hunger in my community.

I named the program “Sow More, Grow More.” I asked farmers and gardeners to sow more fruits and vegetables, so they would have surplus produce to donate at harvest. The program operates during the summer months when low-income students do not have access to free- and reduced-price school meals because schools are closed. “Sow More, Grow More” is now in its third year, and to date we’ve received 1,400 pounds of donated produce and served 2,200 families.

The simplicity of this idea has attracted attention. I received several national honors such as the Congressional Gold Award and was chosen as one of the Girl Scouts’ National Young Women of Distinction. However, what I learned from community service is even more important. I learned that I don’t have to ask permission to solve a problem. I learned that I could take an idea from start to finish and collaborate with others to make our community stronger. I learned that one person with passion can inspire an entire community. I learned leadership through service.

- Katie D., 19. Full-time student. Gainesville, Georgia. 

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