Lizbeth is a member of QuaranTeen Pals.
I’m someone who enjoys spending a lot of time with their family and values the precious moments we have together. Therefore, helping others is one thing that I contribute my time to since I know there is always someone in need. Someone who I admire the most is my grandma who came to America for a better life. I understand how important it is to take care of our elderly because they are full of wisdom and have endured difficult challenges. I began to volunteer at my grandma’s senior apartment complex in the seventh grade. My family is one to visit my grandma weekly to bring her food or just keep her company since she is a widow. I know that being lonely is something hard to handle so we’d try our best to keep her spirits up. Everytime we would visit I would notice multiple senior residents sitting alone that looked very sad. One day I told my mom that I wanted to do something about it because no one deserves to feel downhearted at such a sensitive phase in their lives. I took it upon myself to come every week to decorate the apartment complex, pass around cards with nice messages, and volunteer at holiday parties with permission of the manager to bring a little happiness into the residents lives. As I continued volunteering, I learned that doing those small gestures actually impacted their lives greatly. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 it has made it difficult to contribute my time. Now I am unable to visit my grandma and when she calls us she tells us that she misses us, and doesn’t take the situation lightly. When I first found out about “QuaranTeen Pals” it reminded me of helping at the senior apartment complex, and I took it upon myself to be apart of this organization because I have learned that with our situation it has become difficult to see our loved ones. I can only imagine what the elderly are feeling since their family is unable to visit them. The idea of being a penpal is amazing because you can brighten someone's day. Small gestures like writing letters can brighten someone's days because you let them know that they are important and loved.
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