SMAS Student's Daughter Describes the Value of "Pay It Forward"

Akane Furukawa is an ESL student in Teacher Lisa Sparks' class.  Her daughter, Aoba Furukawa, is a student at Mills High School.  Aoba writes about the value of volunteering in this wonderful essay which she shares with us here.  Be inspired!

“Pay It Forward”-Volunteering camp

By Aoba Furukawa

Volunteering camp which I had in San Francisco was very inspiring, and it was a great experience. Before this camp, I didn’t really know how to help homeless people, and I didn’t know that even teens can help thousands of people. This camp was not only important for people who needed the help, but it was also important for me too because I got to know the reality of life and how it feels to help other people in general.

On the first day, I went to Youngblood and Coleman Park in San Francisco. The park was filled with many children, and it was very chill. I thought that the park was pretty clean. We took the gloves, tongs, buckets, and worked as a group. When I started, I only found food garbage, and a bottle of caps. However, when I started cleaning up the playground, I saw used needles, and I realized that it was a very dangerous thing, because little kids might touch it, or accidentally step on it. So I learned how to pick up the needle, because picking up the needle was also dangerous, and was a great experience for me. After I did the best as I can, I got to pick up three giant buckets of garbage. We found used condoms, used needles, saddle, shoes, and others.

On the second day, I went to Stow Lake in San Francisco. The park ranger told us to trim the garden, and I was a little nervous, because I had never tried it before, and I needed to use the pruning shears. At first, it was difficult for me to cut the branch, and thought about how much I needed to use the pruning shears. At first, it was difficult for me to cut the branch, and thought about how much I needed to cut. However, it was really fun when I got used to it, and I even made new friends. I got to socialize with many people, so it was a good opportunity to meet with new people.

On Wednesday, I went to the San Francisco food bank and backed rice. We divided the work. My work was to close the rice bag using the iron, label it, and put it in the giant box. We had to do it very quickly, and it nneded team work. Of course, we made a few mistakes such as spilling out the rice or putting the wrong amount of rice. Fortunately, my group packed about one hundred packages, and in total people, and whole group packed about 3000 packages.  It was a really great experience because I realized that it was actually fun, and I want to do that again.

On Thursday, I went to a Glide to help the homeless people. I wiped the tables, put the spoons, napkins, cups each table. I didn’t know what foods would be really delicious. There was a lot of chicken, bread, carrots, coleslaw, Caesar salads, and fruit. Although I couldn’t make the food, I served the the carrots and it smelled really good. When people came in, it was very busy that I couldn’t keep up with the carrots in same amounts. However, we never stopped so it made really tired, but a lot of people came to Glide to eat, but many Chinese people came, and children also came to eat too.

On the last day, I went to Ocean Beach to clean up the beach. Unfortunately, it was very cold that I was freezing. However, I had to pick up the garbage, and I was really tired. I was looking for garbage, but the beach was very clean. All I found was snack garbage, and an Ipad case, so it was a very tough day for me. However, I earned certification for volunteer hours, so I was really proud of myself, and I was glad of what had done during the week.

This camp was truly amazing. Because we needed to work as the team, I made new friends, and we tried our best. I learned that not only homeless people need free food, but normal people are also in need. I learned so many things, and I hope I can help other people in the future again.

Thank you, Akane and Aobe, for inspiring us to volunteer!