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“As an Action Team Captain, I get friends and other peers involved in volunteer work. People in the community love to see young faces doing something positive, and we inspire just by being there.”– Aileen Mokuria, Dallas, Texas ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Action Team Captain: School: Skyline High School, Dallas Grade: Senior You make a difference in your community when you get involved as a volunteer. And volunteering can benefit you! Find out how from Dallas-Ft. Worth Action Team Captain Aileen Mokuria. Like all captains of the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Team, Aileen recruits other teens to participate in service projects at school and in the community. Supporting the Dallas-Ft. Worth Action Team are Major League baseball players Jason Jennings and Michael Young of the Texas Rangers. I volunteer because … I love to help people, and it can be very fun! I joined the Action Team because … The Action Team is a program that genuinely wants to inspire and help students volunteer more, which I think is an admirable goal. I was thrilled to get to be part of the Action Team and have been an Action Team Captain for two years. What inspires me about the Major League baseball players who support our Action Team … I am inspired by their spirit to give back to the community.… These baseball players take time out of their busy schedules to do something nobody is forcing them to do. You can tell that they just want to volunteer like everyone else, which makes me respect and look up to them. How volunteering with the Action Team benefits me … Volunteering with the Action Team has helped me in so many ways. I have met so many people I probably would not have met otherwise. I feel I’m a better person because when you volunteer, you meet people who are still happy despite all the adversity in their lives. That inspires me to live life that way too. When you’re part of the Action Team, you get to help other people but, in turn, you are helped as well. How I benefit my community as an Action Team Captain and volunteer … I help get my friends and other peers involved in volunteer work. I notice that people in the community love to see young faces doing something positive, and we inspire people just by being there. As an Action Team Captain, what I tell other teens to encourage them to volunteer … I have discovered that the best way to get young people involved in volunteering is to first, do something you know they like to do, and second, be creative to make it a fun activity. In the projects we do as a team, students sometimes don’t even realize they are doing community service because they’re having such a good time. My favorite volunteer activity … The most inspiring activity for me was working with people in a home for the mentally disabled because everyone in the home had such high spirits. I feel that many people who are mentally challenged are misunderstood. Through working with them, I got to see that they are regular people with dreams like everyone else. My volunteer goals for this school year … To involve more of my peers in volunteer activities and, as much as possible, to help my community before I go off to college. What’s in my iPod … I know it sounds like a cliché, but I really love almost all music. I would have to say my fav is R&B and Rap. People I really like to include: John Legend, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Wayne, all the local rappers down here in Dallas, and Bob Marley. My favorite baseball player … Michael Young [Dallas-Ft. Worth Action Team player with the Texas Rangers] because he is so nice.
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