“Everybody can be great because everyone can serve,” said American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. This was true then, and Eagle High students show it remains true today by striving to be great in their own communities.
“I volunteer at Rock Harbor, taking care of a group of third-grade boys; along with that, I volunteer at Young Life,” said junior Lleyton Vierra. “And every month I try and make it my goal to go to downtown Boise to hand out pizza and Bibles to the homeless with my buddies.”
Vierra began volunteering after hearing about it often at church services and being given handouts which made starting easy. All he had to do was simply reach out.
Often, starting something new can seem daunting, but starting with something familiar and having a supportive community makes serving accessible to anyone.
“Just seeing their [the third-grade boys] smiles have made me come back every single week,” Vierra said when discussing his favorite parts of volunteering. He also reminisced about his first interactions with them, remembering how it felt to see them so happy simply to have him there.
Vierra isn’t the only student at Eagle High making an impact.
“When I baked a pie for a Student Council potluck, it was very fun to stick around and meet new people,” said junior Kaila Murphy, who often helps in her mom’s classroom and at the Boise homeless shelter.
For both Vierra and Murphy, the true reward of volunteering is connection. In an age where self-reliance is idolized and technology replaces in-person interaction, many feel lonely or isolated without community. Not all are born into one and some must create it for themselves. Often, all it takes is reaching out, which is a small sacrifice for a priceless reward.
“I think I have learned that it doesn’t take much extra effort to be helpful, and volunteering can make you feel very happy and fulfilled,” Murphy said when describing what serving has added to her life, summarizing everything perfectly.
Vierra finds that he has learned similar lessons.
“I feel like it has made me less selfish in an aspect of I get to go and do these things and it makes me feel better,” he said. “And if I get any chance to preach the gospel, then that is what I want to do because that is what I love doing,”
Volunteering does not have to be laborious or boring. Often, when it is done with passion, it has an even greater impact. All people have individual talents, interests and strengths and using them to benefit others can help the whole community in unique ways.
“My time is never too important to not go help someone out,” Vierra said.
There are many ways to begin volunteering, especially in already existing communities such as school clubs, local libraries, churches and sports. Along with these, there are broad websites to find the perfect match such as serve.idaho.gov, idealist.org and aarp.org, with many more specific organizations having their own websites and resources as well. Eagle High also has multiple volunteer opportunities, especially through clubs such as Key Club and Earth Club.
Murphy and Vierra show that greatness doesn’t always come from grand gestures; it often begins with small acts of service from the heart. Their stories remind Eagle High students that all individuals can make an impact, and as Martin Luther King Jr. said, everyone can serve.
