Thanksgiving is often overlooked and taken advantage of by young people where instead, teenagers should give back to the community by helping those in need. But Thanksgiving isn’t the only time of the year that should be spent on giving back.

Every year around Thanksgiving, you’ll hear one or two groups of students on campus talking about how they’re going to volunteer in a soup kitchen over the Thanksgiving break. How often do you hear those same groups of students having that same conversation in the middle of March or even before Christmas? Almost never, and those soup kitchens are open almost every day of the year.

“We tend to get more volunteers during the holiday season compared to the rest of the year, although volunteering during the holidays is equally important as any other time of year,” said Mike Espe, volunteer coordinator of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Volunteering in soup kitchens is a great idea for Thanksgiving. But people tend to forget that services are also needed during Christmas time and throughout the year. Several young people will avoid working in a soup kitchen during Christmas time because winter break is supposed to be the time to not work and take a break. The problem most people don’t realize is that there isn’t always a ton of help in soup kitchens during Christmas time. Once the big “food” holiday, Thanksgiving, is done with, many will forget about volunteering during Christmas.

There are several organizations that allow teenagers and young people to participate in soup kitchen work. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is one of the largest local organizations. Other local organizations include the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, the St. Francis Center and Eagle Rock Seventh-Day Adventist Church, just to list a few.

Not only is volunteering good for teenagers to get involved to serve the community and help those less fortunate and in need during these difficult economic times, but it is also made a requirement for high school students to have community service hours to graduate.

“We see teenagers and young people volunteer all the time. Since our minimum age requirement to volunteer is 14 years old and above, young people are definitely encouraged to volunteer, ” Espe said.

Consider volunteering this holiday season. It can benefit you in so many ways possible. Just think of all of the less fortunate people who need the services of volunteers and how you could brighten their holidays by spending at least one day of winter break working in a soup kitchen or even just packaging canned foods for them.

One way students can help at Daniel Pearl is by donating canned food to the food drive to Leadership by Dec. 16. All donated food must be non-perishable and will be given to charity.