Community Service

My name is Ashley Murray and I attend Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School located in Miami, Florida. As a graduation requirement, it’s necessary to complete an abundant amount of community service hours. My mother was constantly nagging me to have this completed. Finally to my dismay, I obliged and applied to Abstinence Between Strong Teens, Inc. I wasn’t enthusiastic about being a “slave” as I deemed it once, but to my surprise I loved serving others and became involved with numerous other projects.
Abstinence Between Strong Teens, Inc. is an organization who goes around the school community and local churches explaining the consequences of having premarital sex, both physical and emotional. My first day there they introduced me to their staff and briefed me on their mission. At that moment I realized, this couldn’t be very difficult and maybe I could help them in their mission for the community. I was there for three months in the summer completely oblivious to my previous plans with my friends.
Within the summer I had to answer phones, however it was more than answering phones because I had to answer numerous questions. Such questions arose about abstinence and what it meant, upcoming events, ways to become involved, etc. I also had to help organize presentations that the staff went to present to schools and churches. When I attended Miami Southridge Senior High School my sophomore year they visited my class with a similar presentation that I was producing myself. As a high school student, these presentations were moving; they taught the students that pre marital sex was not a risk of only catching a sexually transmitted disease but also a risk of feeling emotionally hurt. It was comforting to know that I was helping others my age to see this as well.
After I got a taste of seeing what I can do to affect my community and my peers, I couldn’t stop. At my church, Riverside Baptist Church, we attend a Passport Mission Camp annually, and this year I pumped more than ever to help out in any way I could. We visited residents in a nursing home, and we helped them forget about their troubles. I was saddened to hear that most of the residents viewed the home as a purgatory or “God’s waiting room” as most of them referred to it. I was surprised to discover that a plethora of the residents’ families don’t visit them and worse, few receive birthday and Christmas cards.
The residents there mainly want attention and to know that they were loved, so my church decided to do just that. We constructed holiday cards and birthday cards and personally delivered them. Mary Beth, the resident I was assigned to was ecstatic when I gave her the card I made for her. Another main thing that brought the residents joy was their dining room where the majority of their activities took place, however it was worn down and ratty looking. The youth in my church then decided to paint it and decorate it for our new friends. As the residents began to walk or wheel we began singing “Let Us Sing Together”. I was heartfelt to see many residents with tears of joy and with huge smiles that could make an angel laugh. The nurses were extremely thankful and told us that “this is what they all needed.”
Another project I took part in was the walk to support breast cancer held in Miami Beach, Florida. I am involved in my high schools varsity soccer team and am captain of South Kendall Soccer team, so I figured I could help out by using my talents. It was a 5K run, and believe me when I say it was tiring. Needless to say, I am seventeen years old and forty year olds beat me in this running competition, but they did dedicate their lives to serving others by running so I guess it makes it ok. It was life altering to know that all these hundreds of people were all running with the same goal in mind, to help save lives. This experience opened my eyes to how people want to help others by giving some money and running for a cause.
Serving my community is something that truly touches my heart. Although I am only one person I know that I have made a difference. I made children aware of the dangers of premarital sex, and possibly helped them in their future morale decisions. By visiting the elderly I let them know they are still cared about and that they still have a purpose in life, and if not I made them laugh. I ran for patients with breast cancer and gave money to support the current research on their diagnosis. All these things might of influenced one person or many, and I might of only made someone smile or might of saved a life. All I need to know is that I did my part on trying to make where I live a better place.