Volunteer Spotlight

Alvie Kam

Volunteer

Burton

Class of 2019

How has community service impacted your life?

Throughout my time of volunteering with HIM and other programs & services, I've learned that nothing beats the pleasure of helping out others. In my mind, the whole point of community service is to assist those who needs more hands to support their doings. In return of helping, you are creating a ripple effect of satisfaction to the connected communities. For example, if you are volunteering at a food pantry for any position, you are contributing to its goal of sending out food to those in need. It doesn't matter if you are the person who is signing people in, or the one who is handing out the food. You are still part of the process of giving functionality to the place to serve its purpose, and that feeling is the greatest.

Why did you start volunteering with HIM?

HIM was the first place I went to when I decided I wanted to start volunteering. My brother was the one who actually introduced it to me and told me all these great things about it. The weird thing is how he has never volunteered for HIM, but he seemed to know the majority of things. I thought that if he knew so much about it, then HIM must be a pretty known thing around school. As it turns out, it is. When I registered for my first event, it was bizarre seeing the amounts of people that were volunteering too. With HIM revolving around clubs throughout SFUSD high schools, online works, and social media, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it was a growing organization. It all seemed amazing to me, so as of today, I continue to choose to be a part of HIM.

Which events did you enjoy the most? Why?

My enjoyment of events comes from the working in the different work environments that I've never encountered before. These includes marathon expos, prepping for festivals, fairs, etc, and working to serve the needy, such as Glide and Food Bank. I believe that I get the most learning experience from these types of events where I'm interacting with strangers, seeing the behind of scenes, and helping the ones who need it the most. Not only am I learning, it's also fun working chatting besides people that has the same intentions and goals.

What's your favorite part about volunteering with HIM?

Every time I volunteer with HIM, it gives me time to not only help out for a good cause, but to also bond and meet new people. From my experience, I have strengthened many friendships throughout the long hours we get for each event. It gave me a chance to meet so many amazing people, including the fellow volunteers working beside me and the many strangers I've encountered in marathons and other types of events. To also see young peers developing skills that will help themselves out as individuals in the future is very motivational. By just looking at the interns, officers, program managers, or just anyone who is in charge of trying to run HIM smoothly gives me a hint of appreciation towards the organization itself regarding how much time they spend behind the scenes to make it possible for the volunteer opportunities.