Volunteers

Helen Clark

We spend our lives looking up to those admirable elders whom we want to emulate. The people who show courage, initiative, and compassion are usually adults who have gone before us. Yet, rarely do we turn our eyes behind us and take a look at those who are following us. Maybe we should pay more attention to our youth; they have a lot to teach us. One such youth is a remarkable 16-year old from Georgia, Helen Clark.

Helen attended the Georgia Rotary Student Program and was interested in what they do and have done to help others. As she was looking for a way to get in her service hours, she then learned about the Interact Club. Not one to be put off by the fact that her school did not have an Interact Club, Helen founded one in her community. 

The Interact Club is different from other service organizations in that anyone can help, and anyone helping can receive service hours. You do not have to have a certain grade point average in order to participate, which allows students of all abilities to help others. This group meets once a month.

When asked what prompts her to help others, Helen explained that her parents always encouraged service to their community, as well as beyond. She also once read an article in World Ark Magazine titled “The Pursuit of Happiness”. The gist of the story was that people who pursue money end up without tangible joy. Yet, those who reach out to help others find more joy and happiness. This, coupled with how she was raised, has prompted Helen to help others as much as possible.

This desire to help others doesn’t just come from her parents, though. Helen’s great-aunt volunteered for 35 years with the 4-H Club, and it was she who taught Helen how to make fleece blankets one year. After a few tries, Helen decided to buy more fleece and started making blankets for babies. Helen started her venture into blanket-making through seed money from her Girl Scout troop and her family and she made 150 baby blankets for her local hospital. Leftover fabric from that project, as well as a gift of fabric from a family friend, allowed her to dream up a project to help children in Africa. 

What started as something kind, turned into something to give hope to others. Helen and her friends and family made 70 blankets and 50 pillows for children in Papoli, Uganda! And, Helen recruited others to help her cause. There are nine elementary schools where Helen lives and each fifth grade class is a “Cloverleaf 4-H Club.” Helen asked these groups to participate in her project and they took up her challenge. They competed for club points bringing in band aids, cotton balls, q-tips and gloves and together with the middle school 4-Hers and a few Interact club members, they collected 7 large boxes of medical supplies!

AFCA just loaded a 40’ container chock full of medical supplies, equipment, the pillows and blankets, hospital beds, and many other items January 7, 2010 and is in route to Uganda where children will be ecstatic to receive their gifts. 

“It’s a worthy cause – it doesn’t matter how much time or effort it took to do our part- it’s just awesome to do it!” said Helen when I asked her about the commitment it took to accomplish what she did. 

While Helen’s goal is to be a pediatrician, she has great interest in medical aid and international studies. She is off to a great start in pursuing this honorable role in our society. We should all follow the example of young people like Helen and actively help others while living our passion.