ACTION TEAM CAPTAIN of the Month
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“I fully believe that being a part of something such as the Action Team helps build character and make a better, more caring person out of you.” – Mackenzie Hammon, Sultan, Washington

You make a difference in your community when you get involved as a volunteer. And volunteering can benefit you! Find out how from Seattle Action Team Captain Mackenzie Hammon. Like all captains of the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Team, Mackenzie recruits other teens to participate in service projects at school and in the community. Supporting the Seattle Action Team are Major League baseball players Miguel Batista and Brandon Morrow of the Seattle Mariners.

Action Team Captain: Mackenzie Hammon
School: Sultan High School, Sultan, Washington
Grade: Sophomore

Seattle Action Team Captain Mackenzie Hammon helped kick off the Stuff-a-Bus challenge in Everett, Washington, on November 29. She sits among toys donated for local children in need. Check Service In Action to find out more.

I volunteer because …

Life is unpredictable. No one plans, or wants, to be helpless. No one wants to be considered needy…. Sometimes there’s no way to get around the cards that you’ve been dealt, and the help you receive is the only way to keep going. I like to be a part of that help – and I plan to be for a long time. I don’t see how I could ever stop volunteering!

I joined the Action Team because…

When you are on your own wanting to volunteer, it’s hard to know where to get started. Being a part of the Action Team provides you with numerous opportunities to get out and make a difference. When you have ideas for service projects, it gives you people to ask for advice. You have the connections of people at Volunteers of America. I was an Action Team Captain last year and I would like to be involved in the Action Team all through school.

What inspires me about the Major League baseball players who support our Action Team…

I'm inspired by how they take time to care about volunteering and what they can do to help. … [It] makes me really respect these players.

How volunteering with the Action Team benefits me …

I fully believe that being a part of something such as the Action Team helps build character and make a better, more caring person out of you. [It] opens your eyes to the real world. It’s easy to deny some of the poorer conditions in our country, but when you’re out there trying to fix them you realize how much more there is to do. The Action Team has also helped prepare me for independence. I've had to do things I normally wouldn’t, such as organize events and speak in front of crowds, and I am grateful for that opportunity. And it is something really great to have on a college application.

How I benefit my community as an Action Team Captain and volunteer …

My community, just like any other, has its fair share of problems. The projects our Action Team organizes are our way of doing the best we can to help eliminate some of the problems. Each family helped is an improvement to the community and benefits us all.

As an Action Team Captain, what I tell other teens to encourage them to volunteer …

It's almost impossible to describe to someone the feeling you get from doing something totally selfless and rewarding. If I can get someone to experience it once, no doubt the person will be willing, and wanting, to volunteer again. To get teens to come out that first time, you just have to point out, “What have you got to lose?” You’re helping others while at the same time becoming a more well-rounded person. There is no downside [to volunteering].

My favorite volunteer activity ...

I love the Buses for Baseball program. Once or twice a year, the other Action Team Captains and I get to take a group of kids to a Mariners game. All these kids have an incarcerated parent, so their lives have probably been pretty tough. Being a part of something fun for them is so fulfilling.

My volunteer goals for this school year …

One of my main goals is to set up a food drive at my school. I live in a pretty small town and our food bank can get emptied really fast. This year, even more so than others, there has been a large shortage of food due to the bad economy. The idea is to make it a competition among the four classes. Each class gets a box to fill with food for the Sultan Food Bank.

What’s in my iPod …

Right now I really love bands like Phantom Planet, Saving Jane and 3oh!3. I also really enjoy The Beatles covers done in Across the Universe.

My favorite baseball player...

I have to be loyal to the Mariners, which means my favorite baseball player is Ichiro Suzuki.

At a Buses for Baseball event last spring, Mackenzie Hammon (back row, second from left) joins fellow Action Team Captains and Seattle Mariners’ players (left to right) Miguel Batista, Miguel Cairo, Arthur Rhodes, Willie Bloomquist, and Jarrod Washburn, along with participating children.