How Americans Express Service

My American creed is service. I feel we are all connected through the desire to serve each other no matter how we choose to do so. From the beginning of our country, we have found ways to do right by others. In the civil war era, Americans risked their lives to help free slaves through the underground railroad. During the Great Depression, Americans worked hours upon hours at soup kitchens to feed their neighbors. After 9/11, officers spent days searching through rubble to give families some level of peace. We express ourselves through service and Americans express service through military service, donating, volunteerism, and acts of kindness.

Military service is a huge part of many peoples’ American identity. As early as the age of 18, people enlist in the army and are shipped overseas with the desire to serve their fellow Americans. People leave behind their friends and family because they feel such a strong inspiration to serve others in that way. Even in the beginning of the US, men served in the military to fight for their freedom and, against all odds, defeated the British to establish the United States. People lost their lives fighting to defeat the impending threat of violence in the US during WWI and WWII. In this they created a safer world for all Americans. Through military service, people donate their time and their lives to create a better world for each other.

Donating to benefit others is a large practice among Americans as an act of service as well. Countless organizations, regardless of size, exist in the United States to help others and collect donations to give to the needy. Over the winter, I was on our school’s LLS team and collected donations from my friends and family. I was overwhelmed by the generosity everyone showed and was able to collect over $10,000 due to this generosity. Also, the government itself donates part of our taxes to welfare programs that benefit the less fortunate. In the US, donations are given every day to help others.

Volunteerism is also a huge practice among Americans. Organizations exist to help others but they wouldn’t be able to make any progress without volunteers that spend countless hours helping others. In the summer, I spend two hours twice a week volunteering in the Village Project gardens and am able to grow food for cancer patients so they can eat fresh food full of nutrients to help them recover faster. That’s just one small example; people volunteer with all kinds of organizations. For example, the food bank, red cross, habitat for humanity, and so many more. I, personally, know more people that volunteer for some type of organization than don’t. Volunteerism is another type of service that Americans participate in every day.

Acts of kindness is another way that Americans are connected through service. Although many acts of kindness go unnoticed, they happen every day and are so important to our culture. For example, when someone holds a door open for you and just for a moment you are connected with a complete stranger through a smile or a small thank you. In a sports game, when someone on the other team falls and their opponent offers a hand to help them up they are connected through this act of kindness between opponents. When someone loses their dog and all of their neighbors band together to look for it, they are connected through this act of kindness to help find the dog. Random acts of kindness connect Americans every day.

As Americans we are connected through the ways we choose to serve each other.