When I was four years old, I had the idea to raise money for a local charity, which helps kids with cancer and other terminal illnesses locally. So, being the genius child I was, I held (with the help of my sister) a lemonade stand outside a store. The stand raised $117, which was a lot in little kid money, so I was impressed. And that kick-started my want to help out my community. As I got older, I continued to do more. Such as, every single time I see a little box for coins at a cash register that raises money for a specific awareness or hospital or whatever, I always drop money in there. Even when I was younger and didn't have money, I begged my mom until she did.

Another thing was that I used to ring the bell for donations for the Salvation Army red kettle. With Girl Scouts and on my own, it was always a tradition for me. We did this for many years, probably until I was ten, but then took a many-year hiatus. I never really knew why we stopped. Maybe it was because life just got in the way. Well, skip a few years to when I was ten. My grandma worked at a nursing home at the time, and when my sister and I were very bored once, she took us there to volunteer. We basically just helped wheel the residents around and checked on some others, but it still felt really good to go and start helping the community even more. We went back there many times afterward.

When the pandemic hit, I was eleven. I stopped helping at the nursing home, stopped ringing the Salvation Army bell, but I still donate money to the drop boxes.