I had the opportunity to give the keynote speech at the Quincy Community Service Fair this past Spring. I met HALF of TKC's Executive Council at the fair! My speech encouraged high school and college aged students to get involved:
Speaking at the Service Fair
What do Selena Gomez, Victoria Justice, and David Henrie have in common? Yes, they are young celebrities. But, they are all volunteers who have discovered their opportunities! Selena Gomez discovered her passion in educating people about global warming with UNICEF. Victoria Justice discovered her opportunity to join Girl Up and help girls around the world have education and clean water. David Henrie discovered his chance to train youth talent in improv and is excited to get others involved in LA’s Best.
As you all know, the theme for tonight’s service fair Discover YOUR volunteering opportunity in Quincy!” We’re in the volunteering generation! Service will change our lives and strengthen our communities! Just two weeks ago, over 475,000 young adult volunteers completed 4,000 service projects in 100 countries for Global Youth Service Day. Michelle Obama, Honorary Chair of Global Youth Service Day, believes that young people have the power to make a difference. She said: “You have an unprecedented ability to organize and to mobilize to challenge old assumptions, and to bridge old divides, and to find new solutions to our toughest problems. Young people around the world must reach out to help others realize their talents and make their voices heard.” I am excited to participate in this movement of young adults in service to our communities!
Before I begin sharing my experiences with volunteering, speak about my organization, and tell you why I believe it is important for young adults to be involved in their communities, I would like to thank you for supporting young adults in volunteerism by participating in this Quincy Community Service Fair! My name is Kendall Wipff, and I am an eighteen year old graduating senior at Andover High School, which is about thirty minutes from here. I will be entering Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire this August. Melissa Horr contacted me a few months back and asked me to be the keynote speaker at tonight’s event, and I am so honored to be here!
This is my story about how I discovered my opportunity and passions: I began taking voice lessons ten years ago at the age of eight. Ever since connecting with my voice teacher, Danielle, I have loved performing at different civic, community, and service events. Danielle always encouraged me to give back to my community, whether it was through performing for senior citizens or donating to my voice studio’s annual Toys for Tots Drive. Later, with Danielle’s influence, I began competing in scholarship pageants, where I gained even more opportunities to get involved with different organizations and participate in dozens of events. It was with her influence and through my parents’ involvement in our school system and church, that I sort of fell into volunteering. I guess I was lucky in that way; having positive people influencing my life led me to want to give back. I joined my middle school Student Council and continued to be on my High School’s Board of Directors, engaging in activities to better my school and community. Five years ago, I began volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club in Lawrence, MA, where I am still a weekly volunteer. When I was in the eighth grade, my English teacher assigned a project: It was called the Goal Project, where each student, at the beginning of the school year had to set a specific goal that could be accomplished in a matter of months. For me, it was only natural that I chose to set my goal to engage in a project that involved giving back to the community. Because I had performed for senior citizens at voice recitals, I chose to begin a group called Singing for Seniors. Still in existence today, I have involved more than twenty-five students from my voice studio. Many of these students had no prior volunteering experience. Over the past four years, I have had had the opportunity to watch kids fall in love with giving back. With this inspiration, in 2007, I founded my organization The Kindness Campaign: Everyone Can Make a Difference.
The Kindness Campaign is a program I designed to increase the number of youth volunteers throughout local communities in Massachusetts and the United States and empower young people by making them believe that each individual has the power to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. The Kindness Campaign works in three ways. It encourages young adults to get involved in their local communities, gives ideas, and connects volunteers to service organizations and opportunities.
What’s the encouragement? As I said before, service will change your life and strengthen your
community! Being a volunteer gives you the opportunity to learn or develop a new skill, be a part of your community, gain a sense of achievement, broaden your career options, find new hobbies, gain new experiences, meet a diverse range of people, and connect with those who have interests similar to your own. The benefits are endless!
What are some ideas? If you like sports, you can give kids free golf or swim lessons or help coach a soccer team. If you love reading, read to a preschool class or an elderly person. If you love to perform, share your talents at an assisted living facility. If you want to be a doctor, consider volunteering at a hospital. If you’re extremely organized, put together a fundraiser for a charity that is important to you, or start a club at your school. If you consider yourself a leader, apply to be on the Executive Council for The Kindness Campaign.
How do I get connected to service organizations and opportunities? Visit my website, www.thekindnesscampaign-ma.org. It lists several opportunities and organizations you can get involved in!
Wrapping up, I want to take the opportunity to call all the participants here tonight to action; I want to encourage the young adults to get involved here in Quincy, enthuse the Quincy non-profits and government agencies to continue to support young adults in volunteerism and service, and to invite both volunteers and agencies to connect with The Kindness Campaign!
There are many incredible service organizations here tonight. I encourage student participants to speak to as many people and seek out as many opportunities as possible. This is how you discover what you’re interested in. Find where your passions lie and give back in that area as if you love what you are doing, you and the beneficiaries will have that much more of a positive experience. I hope students all enjoy their time at the fair tonight and find the opportunity that fits them best.
Again, I want to thank the non-profits and government agencies who are creating the opportunities for the young adults to be involved! And remember, each and every young adult has the power to make a difference in someone’s life; however, we need the support and opportunities from our local communities to be able to accomplish this. Not only that, but the opportunity to serve in a non-profit or government agency, gives us people skills, career mentors, and professional guidance to use our talents.
And finally, I would like to invite you all to engage with The Kindness Campaign by speaking with me tonight or visiting my website at www.thekindnesscampaign-ma.org. I would like to personally invite students to be involved in my service projects or with the Campaign itself. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, I am in the process of organizing an Executive Council for The Kindness Campaign where I will enlist high school and college students to work with me to encourage young people to get involved in their local communities. I am also happy to talk with the organizations here to learn about ways that we can collaborate on projects to serve your community! Please visit my booth for more information. Thank you and enjoy the fair!
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." --Gandhi
