When senior secretary of National Honor Society Kirby Goodman reflects on the benefits of volunteering, she thinks about her passions and helping others.

“Volunteering is an awesome way to use your passions and interests to impact others positively, which helps not just them and their cause, but you as well,” Goodman said.

National Honor Society (NHS) adviser Jenny Merkle said volunteering can give students new outlooks on community.

“It gives you new perspectives on your community and on different things you usually wouldn’t do,” Merkle said. “Stepping out of your comfort zone and helping people is really rewarding, but kids and adults don’t automatically think to do that right away so it’s kind of cool in that sense.”

According to Merkle, volunteering locally builds positive relationships between high school students and those younger than them.

“It’s really cool for the elementary school and middle school students to see people that aren’t much older than them helping and caring about them,” Merkle said. “It shows that people care about the community which is really an important thing for St. Louis Park.”

Sophomore volunteer Greta Long said she started volunteering when she was six years old.  

“(I have volunteered) since I was about six years old,” Long said. “My dad started volunteering (at STEP) a little bit before I did. He thought I might like it, and I did, so I just keep going back.”

Long said she feels volunteering provides students with a deeper connection to their community.

“I think it gives you a sense of appreciation,” Long said. “Doing work for free for others that they can’t do themselves, and just helping others helps you connect with the community more.”

Goodman said when looking for volunteer opportunities, students should look for places that interest them in order to make a greater impact.  

“Students should volunteer somewhere both convenient for them location wise, but also somewhere meaningful to them, so a place that aligns with their passions and interests,” Goodman said. “Volunteering somewhere meaningful to the individual is a great way to support their passions or beliefs by giving back in the community.”

Goodman said students should further investigate places they have interests in rather than solely based on location.

“My best recommendations for people is to first look into places they’ve heard of and find interesting, and if their preference of location doesn’t align with that, to think about how they want to make an impact and then we can guide them in their research for places,” Goodman said.

Goodman said the NHS leaders and adviser are willing to help students find the best volunteer opportunities for them.

“We can always help students find places where they can (volunteer), but it’s pretty easy with technology and Google,” Goodman said.  

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Genesis Buckhalton

One place in St. Louis Park where students can volunteer is Perspectives, according to senior Zosha Skinner.