Smoke Signal

Volunteers Outside School

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 By Asmi Sanghvi

Senior Elizabeth Kelly has volunteered beyond the walls of school and beyond after-school clubs, driven by her own incentive. Her motive she said is being able to help others and create even just “temporary smiles” for sick children. Kelly, a member of both the National Honors Society and Key Club, volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield. The Ronald McDonald House began in 1974 based on the concept to provide a “home away from home” for the families of children with serious illnesses who require hospital treatment. Since then, more than 10 million families around the world have benefited from the Ronald McDonald House. Kelly heard about the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield from trips there with her CCD class and from some friends in Monson. After going there, she “realized there was a teen board. I enjoyed going down and helping out and just giving the families something to look forward to [when I came with CCD] so I got in contact with a member of the teen board and had an interview and became a member.” During her junior year, Kelly became a part of the Teen Board “We meet once or twice a month, fundraise for the families, and visit them where we cook, do arts and crafts, and spend time with the kids and family so they do not feel like they’re stuck in place,” said Kelly. In the first of the meetings, they discuss upcoming events and organized everything. The second time, they have an event, “either a fundraising one, like selling cards or something to raise money for the house,” she said. “One big event we do around Christmastime is ‘Lights of Love,’ where people donate money,” said Kelly. “There’s a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and all the money goes to the House.” In this event, people pay for a light on the Christmas tree at the House in memory or in honor of someone. Though the fundraisers are necessary to keep the House going, Kelly said she has two passions; medicine and helping people. “The Ronald McDonald House gives me both,” she said. By volunteering, she realized what she wants to do in her future, “something in the health field that lets me help people out.” “I learned to appreciate what I have in my life, and even though I give temporary smiles, it is nice to know that I make a difference, even if it is one minute, one day, it’s just nice to know that I am helping people out,” said Kelly. Being around those families, Kelly has had to face circumstances that have shown her how special and important helping in someone’s life can be. “I was down at the house spending time with some of the sick kids, and I sat down with two kids that were about 3 years old, both were undergoing surgeries, and I helped them make bracelets,” said Kelly. “It was challenging because they both spoke Spanish, and I don’t speak any Spanish. However, we found a way to communicate by hand gestures. We worked together. I helped them make the bracelets, and once I put it around their wrist they just beamed with the fact that they had something new.” Next year in college, she hopes to continue with a similar volunteer experience, like Big Brother, Big Sister. “You really have to want to do it. It is nice to see a smile on other people’s faces, hear them laugh. In Wilbraham [and Hampden], we are all pretty lucky and, because we are blessed to have things; we should help others.” Kelly’s experiences are examples that volunteering is not just another activity to put on your transcript. Rather, it is an important part of a person’s character built through experiences. As Kelly said of volunteering, “We can put a smile on their faces.”