It is already Thanksgiving and I can hardly believe it. The time has truly flown by! All the other Victory Scholars made the trip up to Belfast for a few days this week for the various Thanksgiving activities planned by Sport Changes Life. Everyone arrived on Wednesday evening and it was like being reunited with family. I hadn’t seen some of the Scholars since we first arrived in Belfast so it was great to reconnect.
On Thursday morning, we went to what I thought to be the most important part of the time that we spent together. We went to a local homeless shelter to help with a few of their immediate needs. Our work included cleaning up their donation room and organizing many clothing donations they had recently received. This type of work isn’t the most enjoyable but I’m glad we were the ones to do it and I will tell you why. Many people often spend the holidays with their families every year without a worry in the world. What many people fail to realize is that there are many others in the world that never get to experience those comforts during the holidays. Being homeless doesn’t mean that everything is hopeless. There is always a chance to give back and help when you can. Thanksgiving is not celebrated anywhere other than the United States but I am glad that we got the chance to give back when it was our time to celebrate.
The donation room was a mess. Between all the Scholars that were there, we cleaned it up in about two and a half hours. Had that work been left to the two gentlemen who worked there, it would have taken them four days to complete that work. This is time that they could have spent helping someone handle an alcohol addiction or helping someone get a job. This just goes to show something that carries over in every aspect of life: The little things are always important. Never underestimate the importance of them. Our contribution made a tangible difference and I know we will have more opportunities to do the same in the near future. #VictoryGivesBack
