Last Volunteer Standing! by Daniel

Last Volunteer Standing! by Daniel - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Beige was the color of the “cozy” Crozer Volunteer office. It was the last days before I would complete my 40 hours. My boss was on vacation, and the only volunteer in the office was an older woman. She had been tediously putting together Patient packages, which were basins filled with soap, combs, toothbrushes, all wrapped up in a bag. I sat down next to her and while helping her she talked about her children, who served in the Marines. She loved to talk. I loved to listen, but she had to leave early that day.

Afterwards, an eerie quietness filled the room. Damp and unorganized the room was like an oversized closet left alone for several years. A tall man dressed as a postal worker walked in and asked if he can set down some packages by the door. I nodded and continued working. I turn around to see a mountain of cardboard boxes stacked up by the door which now seems like a tiny hill. I couldn’t finish more than 300 care packages partly because there were no more basins or space. The office could barely hold all the care packages let alone the “Mail Mountain.” I was only 2 hours into my 5 hour day and all my work was done.

A girl and a boy both wearing the same uniform as me walked in, signed in, and left. I looked at the Sign In sheet and they both put down they worked till 4 when it was only 11. Why can’t I just do that? Nobody would know. I couldn’t do such a thing. It bothers me that they would come ready to volunteer and not volunteer. I had to find something productive to do.

I looked around me and thought it would be nice if Helen, my boss, would return from her vacation to a clean and organized office. Once that idea struck me, I couldn't stop. I took the packages from the mail mountain out of the big crate they were in, and put all the loose care packs in it. I unpacked some of the boxes that I had opened before, and put them in their respective places. The rest I put in a neat pile in an empty closet.

The next day I worked on a couple hundred more care packages, because we got a new shipment. I noticed a door in the back of the office that led to a narrow closet that had 3 big gunstock metal closets that had all sorts of office supplies mixed altogether falling out. I took everything out and started from scratch. I put on gloves, grabbed a box of Clorox wipes, and set off on my mission. I wiped down all the cracker crumb covered closets from the permanent marker spills, glue, and other questionable substances. After they were all clear and citrus scented I started organizing all the miscellaneous items back into the closets. I wiped the main office area, cleaned Helen's desk, vacuumed the floors, replaced the cyan color for the laser printer, changed the lights that weren't working, and moved some furniture around to take total advantage of the space.

I was happy of the outcome of the cleaning spree on my last day volunteering. Instead of a dark dreary beige, I saw a bright beaming beige. I locked up for the day and went home hoping what I did had helped out. Two days later when volunteering at Virtua as a lab assistant, I received an email from Helen saying “Thank you soo much for all you’ve done in cleaning the office.” I wonder how she found out it was me, since there were others who had signed in saying they volunteered all day. It didn’t matter. That beige colored office helped turned my cheeks red after seeing that email. It felt nice to make a difference.