Greenheart takes to Greece to embrace purpose
Why do you volunteer? For some, volunteering is an opportunity to practice perspective. It exposes you to environments and communities that you might not otherwise interact with on a regular basis. It invites open dialogue and reflection.
This rang true for community members that attended the CCI Greenheart High School Programs Conference in Athens, Greece. A theme of this year’s conference was to shift perspectives through action. Greenhearts volunteered their time to serve the refugee community in Athens through the Salvation Army, Alliance Relief and Kora. Here are a few of their takeaways on what it means to shift perspective.
“My time at the Salvation Army really made me consider what actually goes into the work of collecting donations – a lot needs to be done after donations are received before they can be distributed to the people who need them.”
“While the experience is still certainly sobering, I was entirely uplifted to see the children with their families enjoying the simple pleasures of being a kid. If even for a brief time, it was amazing to see how resilient these people were despite having lost everything. It showed even more that the act of taking in refugees and providing them with the necessities to survive and opportunity to thrive is enough for them to find a way to experience happiness once again.”
“I will never again donate any clothing I wouldn’t find useful or feel dignified in wearing. I think spending that time and thinking about people who were affected in [the crisis] was very important and humanized the situation even more. Thank you to those who arranged this.”
“One of the pictures a boy drew was of a home and it struck me that he didn’t really have one right now and how young he was. He had a great smile. He later came back with a flag from the Syrian resistance which I now hang behind my desk both as a reminder of how lucky I am in life and how important it is to continue to give back whenever possible.”
“It is very special to meet the staff and people from all over the U.S. who are interested in making the world a better place.”
“Helping people is necessary… always… no matter where in the world you are.”
“I would encourage everyone to interact with someone outside of their faith, ethnic, economic, and race community. Especially before forming opinions or biases about how they perceive that community to be.”
We are so proud of our Greenheart community for welcoming a shift in perspective and embracing purpose in Greece. How do you embrace purpose? This week we are hosting our 2017 Greenheart Gala in Chicago, IL. Can’t make it out? You can still be a part of our cultural exchange legacy by donating online today! All proceeds from your donation support our Annual Fund which creates scholarships and service grants for over 130 beneficiaries.
