International Volunteer day is on Dec. 5th this year, but David Jiang, co-president of the Key Club and junior, said something as complex as giving can’t be defined and categorized by one thing. 

“Giving isn’t necessarily something that has to be you physically giving things; it can also be participation and you giving your time,” Jiang said. “Giving is all about making an impact and positively affecting people.”

To his point, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, the most popular volunteer activities nationwide are fundraising, food collection or distribution, making or distributing goods like crafts and mentoring. 

Like Jiang, assistant principal Amy Skeens-Benton said her definition of giving also varies. 

“Giving is finding a need and fulfilling it for others,” Skeens-Benton said. “For me, giving is what fulfills me and provides me a purpose.”

Zoey Hornback, Dance Marathon chairperson and senior, said giving not only helps others, but it can also help you improve as a person.

“Giving back to your community allows you to become a better person,” Hornback said. “It also helps you grow by making yourself happy through making others happy.”

Jiang said giving back is important to keep yourself grounded.

“Sometimes you get into your own head about where you are right now and what things you have going on personally,” Jiang said. “(Practicing giving) brings you down to earth and makes you think about others.” 

Skeens-Benton said she agrees that giving back is imperative, and said she tries to do so in everything she does.

“I look at my career as a way to give back,” Skeens-Benton said. “Hopefully, by my interaction, someone else has a better life or a better experience because of it. I’ve had students that come back and say, ‘You really made a difference’ or ‘You saved my life.’ They’ve said it’s because I’ve stuck with them or believed in them when no one else did. That’s what giving back can do.”

Like Skeens-Benton, Hornback also said she has an experience that highlighted the impact of her contributions to the community.

“At Trick or Treat for Riley, there was one kid who had special needs and wasn’t able to go to normal trick or treating on Halloween night,” Hornback said. “So they came to our event. His grandma ended up emailing us and said how thankful she was because we were so careful and kind to him. They were glad to have an experience like that one, and we were happy to provide it.”

Skeens-Benton said, with teenagers like Hornback showing increased involvement in their community in recent years, involvement has changed over time.

“I’ve seen more students get involved with giving and community service more so now than they did when I was younger,” Skeens-Benton said. “Maybe that’s because of social media or because we’re seeing it more. But, teenagers today are much more apt to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

Jiang said he believes the rise in the giving-oriented side of teenagers may be partially credited to social media.

“Giving has become more popular because of social media,” Jiang said. “There are creators who use giving as their only form of content, which isn’t a bad thing. It brings to viewers’ mind the sort of things that need to be changed, but also makes them feel good. It may even motivate the viewers to give back.”

However, some, such as Hornback, said giving on social media may not be genuine and sincere.

“I think some people use giving as a form of clout on social media,” Hornback said. “They do it to make themselves look good, not to actually do something good. But, on the flip side, social media can be good to promote giving back to the community.”

However, with that in mind, Skeens-Benton said the promotion of giving on social media is still positive. 

“Social media showing people giving back is great because it gives examples to others (of what they should be doing) and it shows kindness and caring, which is better than the negative (examples) we see all the time,” Skeens-Benton said. “I just hope it’s done for the sole purpose of giving and not from the attention you get from it, but either way everybody wins.”

Skeens-Benton also said, since giving back is a win for many, it should be done more often by everyone.

“Giving is the basis of all kindness,” Skeens-Benton said. “If you can give, you should.”