"Mom, I need service hours... and fast!"

About half way through my junior year at Mandarin High School I became eligible for the National Honor Society. While scanning through the requirements I quickly realized that a certain number of service hours were mandatory for participation and my deadline was short. The following day my mom got in touch with a family friend (also a CSX employee) who has a lot of experience with volunteering. Together, we took a look at the numerous volunteer opportunities on the CSX Volunteerism website and chose a project that involved sorting clothes for a non-profit called, Dignity U Wear.

Dignity U Wear positively impacts the lives of children and their families in need by providing brand new clothing.

Saturday was an early morning. After a quick breakfast we all headed off to Dignity U Wear and were greeted by the Program Director, Keith, who was very organized and ran a tight ship. While we were working he told us a bit about the organization and why it is so important. Dignity U Wear gets new clothes from all types of vendors like Target and Cato and volunteers sort and box them by gender and size. Keith's team then stores the boxes in a huge on-site warehouse. Other non-profits (such as the American Red Cross) call Keith when they need clothes for disaster relief or just to help the less fortunate.

After spending the morning volunteering, I felt as though I had helped hundreds of people and earned my service hours -- plus I had a great time with my mom and our friend. It felt really honorable and fulfilling to know that I was helping others less fortunate than me. And to make things even better, the next week I was inducted into The National Honor Society at Mandarin. I'm so glad I chose Dignity U Wear as my volunteer opportunity; it really was a life changing experience.