Dear Ryan Nece Foundation,
I wanted to thank you so much for organizing and planning out the whole Houston Service-Learning Trip. Through those brief five days, I feel I have grown and developed tremendously as a person, volunteer, leader, and friend. The relationships I have with my fellow Student Service Program members have grown incredibly over those short five days, and I now finally see them as people I can rely on and talk to, I see them as my friends.
Through the experiences and interactions I had during the trip, I began to gain a better understanding of the problems and issues in different communities, as well as the efforts there are to combat them. The Beacon especially had an impact on me as I truly began to understand what it means to have a community in volunteering. The small conversations the frequent volunteers would have with the people coming in showed a sense of familiarity, and this created a relaxed and fun environment that made volunteering not seem like work at all.
Through these experiences I have grown as an individual and become more compassionate. I would like to thank you again for giving my peers and I these experiences, which allow us to continue to grow and give back to our community.
Thanking You,
Sanjeev Varma, rising senior at King High School