Leadership 4 Service Reflections

Leadership 4 Service Reflections

One week ago, our HOBY Texas North student ambassadors came together along with seminar volunteers and various alumni who joined us for the day to give back to our communities.  During this one day, in the middle of our HOBY Youth Leadership Seminar held at the University of Texas @ Arlington, we boarded buses and scattered throughout the DFW Metroplex area to give back to eight different deserving non profits.   These organizations included Crossroads Community Services, Goodwill – Dallas, Goodwill – Irving, Mission Arlington, Seasons for Change, World Visions, YMCA – Metro & The Wildscape.

After grabbing our donated lunches from Zoe’s Kitchen, we boarded the buses and headed out to #DoGood, to give back to those more in need.  We spend time sorted through clothing and household donations, preparing meals for those impacted by the tornadoes in Oklahoma, preparing summer reading kits for children and cleaning up an outdoor nature center, just to name a few areas of impact. Afterwards we can together to reflect on the service that we had given, how it impacted others and how it impacted each of us in a very positive way. 

To honor this day of service – which is an integral part of our four day leadership seminar – the State of Texas recognized Saturday, June 8^th as “HOBY Youth Leadership Day.” 

The feed back that we received and our own reflections demonstrate how important our Leadership 4 Service is both to our communities and to ourselves. Some of the feedback that we received:

“Thank you so much for allowing Goodwill to welcome members of the Hugh O’Brian Youth service program

to two of our store sites last weekend.  Goodwill’s mission is to provide employment and job training for individuals with disabilities and disadvantages.  I spoke with store managers at both our Irving and Westmoreland locations and they shared that these volunteer groups were fantastic. . .I would add that one of my store managers said, “they were the best youth group of volunteers we have ever received!”  That’s quite a review.” -  Goodwill Project Coordinator

"It was really eye opening that this much help was needed, and it's not as hard as it seems when you're working together. It's also a great bonding experience." -Reegan L / 2013 Ambassador

"I thought it was outstanding that thirty-five ambassadors made over eighteen thousand meals today for natural disaster victims." -Jimmy W / Volunteer

At the end of the seminar, our Ambassadors, all high school sophomores, commit to completed 100 hours of community service or Leadership 4 Service hours. They also take time to reflect on how the HOBY Seminar and the service projects have impacted them personally.  Here are just three of the reflections (kept anonymous):

“HOBY has helped me grasp the concept of servant leadership. I've begun to think more about leading for the good of others and about how much of an impact I might make on the world. I've learned to take initiative and not care about what the world thinks of me. Instead, if I am confident in myself, I know that good will come out of it.”

“It's a lot easier to lead and serve than I thought it was. Everyone is sort of looking for guidance whether we

notice it or not and everyone is in need of service. You don't have to always help feed homeless people or do this big project to serve your community.”

“My views have changed in the sense that me, being one person, can do anything that I want to do as long as I have the passion to. All the ambassadors there, as a group, we can change the world with our generations. One small action can make a chain reaction.”