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Gaining
grace and life lessons from volunteering
By Briget Pottkotter
Edison State Communications student
Volunteering at the Alzheimer’s benefit and Brethren’s nursing home
impacted my life more than I thought it would. I learned many unspoken
values when I was just sitting and talking to the elderly in the
nursing home. An example is how one small, simple gesture can impact
one’s whole day. When I painted some of the patients’ nails, their
smiles were huge; and I could tell I truly made their day. Helping at
the benefit, I learned to be kind to everyone because you never know
what is happening in their lives. For example, this man and woman
looked like they were having such a fun time and acted like nothing was
wrong, but they eventually came up and talked to me. It turns out that
his mom had just passed from Alzheimer’s disease. Her passing really
impacted his life hard, but I would never have guessed that if he
didn’t come and talk to me. The biggest thing that I gained from
volunteering at both events was to never, ever take time with your
family for granted. There were multiple couples that were at the
benefit that have a parent who didn’t even remember them, because they
have Alzheimer’s disease. This really made me to think about
appreciating my family more, because you never know what will happen to
them. Gaining these experiences were one of the many positive outcomes.
Another positive thing about volunteering at the Alzheimer’s benefit
and nursing home was getting to talk and know more people and their
stories. The elderly all had their own good stories to tell. It was
awesome to see their faces light up when they talked about their spouse
“back in the day.” Volunteering also made me feel good inside. Every
time one of the patients in the nursing home smiled at me, it truly
made me feel good inside. Or every time that someone thanked me at the
benefit for helping, it also made me feel good inside. This relates to
how a tiny gesture can go a long way.
Even though there were numerous benefits and positive effects that came
from contributing my time, there were two negative things that came
from it. The first negative thing was seeing the patients in the
nursing home that had Alzheimer’s disease. It made me think back to
when my grandma had it and eventually passed away from it. It is a
horrible disease, and to see so many people suffer from it broke my
heart. Even though some of them won’t remember the wonderful days I had
spent with them, the positive outweighs the negative. Along with the
patients in the nursing home that suffers were their families. Many
families at the benefit were families who had to suffer seeing their
loved ones be slowly taken by this disease. My heart goes out to all
those who suffer, suffered, or who have/had loved ones diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease.
Even though I did not make a huge impact on the communities or a huge
amount of people, I know I made the elderly’s day by just the way they
looked and talked to me. They were so grateful for the time I spent
with them. All the people that came up to my table at the benefit were
thankful that we put on a benefit to help raise money to find a cure.
These experiences are ones that I will keep with me. I am glad to be
able to volunteer at the benefit next year and also being able to visit
the nursing home again.
My visits and contributions related to the core values. It relates to
communication the most. I had to communicate to everyone at the benefit
who came up to my area. I also spent most of my volunteering hours
talking to the patients at Brethren’s. Listening is part of
communication and became very important when they talked. I listened to
all their stories, jokes, and comments. My volunteering also relates to
ethics. My decisions and behavior while helping were ethical. Another
core value is teamwork. At the benefit, everyone that helped had to
contribution to our “team” for the benefit to go just right. Everyone
did their part, and it was a major success.
Overall, volunteering at the Alzheimer’s benefit and Brethren’s nursing
home is something I would highly recommend to anyone. You can gain so
many life lessons and grace from just contributing a little bit of
time. Not only did volunteering my time benefit the people around me,
but myself as well.
Editor’s
Note: Edison State Darke County Communications students had to
volunteer 26 hours during the semester, preferably at the Empowering
After School Program. If a student’s schedule or distance from campus
made that impossible, they were allowed to work in a comparable program
under licensed supervision. The purpose was to teach the student how
the fundamentals of communication impacted their own lives and the
lives of those around them.
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