OPS Students Give Back to Community

With National Volunteer Week coming up from April 15 to 21, the sixth grade class at got a jump on the week-long event during their “Give Back” program, where the students participated in clean-ups, visited senior citizens, collected books, raised money for pediatric programs, supported the Center for Food Action and other civic minded projects.

This year’s theme of National Volunteer Week is “Celebrating People in Action”. It is the time to recognize and celebrate the men, women and youth who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities, and to call on every American to do his or her part to sustain the growing spirit of service to the community, whether by committing hours or dollars to the cause.

National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 and has grown exponentially each subsequent year, with literally thousands of volunteer projects and special events scheduled throughout the week.

To volunteer means to perform or offer to perform a service of one’s own free will; to do charitable or helpful work without pay.

Volunteering is the hallmark of a healthy, active society. Whether it is done through a school,  religious, governmental or social organization, or, less formally, through the concept of “neighboring”, where people help people they know—maybe a member of their church, maybe the senior next door—volunteers address a wide range of problems.