Students volunteer over Thanksgiving break

In the early hours of Thanksgiving day, sophomore Felicia Hung will stride toward the crowded streets of Downtown San Jose. Children and parents, runners and volunteers, people from all walks of life, will be gathered on Santa Clara Street, awaiting the start of the Ninth Annual Turkey Trot, which comprises six races, including a 10K run and a 5K run/walk.

This will be Hung’s first time volunteering at the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, an event that raises money for several charities, including the Second Harvest Food Bank and the Healthier Kids Foundation. Over the past eight years, the Turkey Trot has given more than $3.4 million to charities.

Hung will be volunteering with the school’s Interact Club, a community service club that promotes the idea of “service above self.”

At the Turkey Trot, Hung will distribute water and T-shirts to runners and cheer on participants. Although Hung has done community service before, she expects that volunteering during Thanksgiving will be slightly different.

“Thanksgiving is where you give thanks for everything you have,” Hung said. “And I want to thank the community by helping it out.”

Sophomore Gianna Kettmann, who does community service regularly, will also be at the Turkey Trot. She and her family will be running.

In addition to the Turkey Trot, during Thanksgiving, Kettmann will also volunteer at a National Charity League (NCL) event at the San Jose Family Shelter. Kettmann, whose mother and younger sister are also part of NCL, joined the community service organization when she was just a sixth-grader. NCL hosts community service events all year around, but Kettman said that volunteering at the Thanksgiving events is especially rewarding.

“During the time of Thanksgiving, I’m definitely reminded to be grateful for everything that I have,” Kettmann said. “[At the events], it’s very inspiring to see how thankful others are with so much less.”
Kettmann greatly values serving her community.

“[Volunteering] opens my eyes up to how fortunate we are, and how fortunate I am to get the opportunity to help others,” Kettmann said.

Sophomore Nihar Agrawal, who, like Kettman, is no stranger to community service, shares these sentiments.

“I think [community service] is a great way not only to get involved in the community, but to actively engage in the community, and to actually learn about all aspects of it,” Agrawal said.

Agrawal is the president of Committed 2 Community (C2C), a club that works with various organizations to host community-service events.

Around Thanksgiving, Agrawal will volunteer at a C2C event at the Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT), a non-profit organization that supports “learning by doing.”

Agrawal said that C2C will support a warehouse that provides teachers with an affordable alternative for school supplies. C2C has hosted events through RAFT in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. 

“All of our volunteers really enjoy [community] service,” Agrawal said. “They enjoy supporting a cause.”

Agrawal believes that helping others is not only important, but an integral part of Thanksgiving, and of high school.

“[Community service] is definitely something that all high school students should do,” Agrawal said.