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A Student’s Perspective on Giving Back

by Frances Russell (Youth Philanthropy Project member and TCF student intern)

Saturday. It’s the beginning of the long-awaited weekend for an average high school student. Saturday. It’s slow-roasted coffee and fresh, flaky donuts. Saturday. It’s tanning at the pool and fishing on the lake. Saturday. I’ll sleep in until 9:00… or so and feel only slightly guilty about such selfish pleasures that will last all afternoon and linger long into the night.

Saturday, April 24th, 2010 wasn’t your average Saturday. The fellow teenagers that surrounded me weren’t your average high school students either. It was Global Youth Service Day, an annual day of community service for kids and families around the world and 40 of us had gathered to volunteer at Camp Baker, a respite for the physically and mentally disadvantaged.

The project, organized and planned by members of The Youth Philanthropy Project and Hands-On Greater Richmond, kicked off at 10:00 a.m. Volunteers ages 12 to 18 were divided and put straight to work in teams. We cleared and lined a hiking trail, mulched, planted flowers, painted the campus and interacted one-on-one with the residents to make stepping stones for their garden. After 4 hours, we boarded the bus to head home.

As my friends, no longer nameless faces, took their seats, I looked out over the campus of Camp Baker. It truly appeared fresher, livelier, and brighter than that morning. In fact, my bus seat felt more comfortable than it had before. My stomach felt fuller than a breakfast of eggs and bacon. I was even more awake and, well, happier!

I realized Richmond is a special place, full of many good, hardworking people like you and me. Sure, we like our Saturday mornings, our Starbucks pastries, our snooze buttons. But what calls us out of our pajamas into the working world 5 days out of 7 is the desire to be productive, to make a difference, to help others. Sometimes, that’s enough and warrants a good night’s rest. I’m proud to say that for me and many other youth in the area, 6 out of 7 seems to be a more wholesome number. Volunteering in it’s own way is a form of work, yes. Yet I am often surprised to find that in setting aside the endless paperwork and troublesome emails, I can actually relax! The ease that comes when I see my impact - how I was able to help someone else - is truly an indulgence. It’s something much needed in our community and something that I, along with many other youth from that day, plan to take more often in the future.  

Learn more about the Youth Philanthropy Project
Learn more about HandsOn Greater Richmond's Teen Impact