The Last Sunset
In the spirit of youth volunteerism, we would like to share a story about Dylan’s cousin, Haley Korn, who is a student at Missouri State University. She was fortunate to spend a week volunteering in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Prior to this, Haley has actively volunteered in various activities in Springfield, Ashville NC, and Nashville, TN. Her group was sponsored by the university who provided excellent transportation, lodging, and a group of local advisors. Her service adventure was on a coffee farm where she picked, mulched, and helped in the whole process of coffee making. 4 hours of each day were spent on the farm and the rest of the day they could explore the community and its culture. When asked about her most memorable moment she said, “the last sunset”.
“After a full day of hiking, picking, and packaging we were back at our volunteer house relaxing and recharging. Another student asked me to go for a walk to the neighbor’s house to watch the sunset. We hiked to William’s house who greeted us with the utmost happiness and excitement. There were the mountains, the Pacific Ocean on the horizon, and the wide open sky painted orange, pink, and blue. Positively the most beautiful sunset I’d ever seen which seemingly was telling a story, giving us themes, commands, and sadly saying goodbye disappearing behind a mountain. We began thanking William and his family for everything when we noticed the sky filling with stars. It seemed like I felt limitless and each star represented a new idea I have to think about and new experiences that are yet to come ….the stars became my agenda. We left the view, thoughts, emotions behind, but kept the memory.”
Volunteering is helping others to do a service without pay, but Haley felt she was the one who benefitted the most. Not only did she travel to Costa Rica; but also had a hands-on experience at a coffee farm, met a family who welcomed her group into their home, and best of all…”got way out-of-my-comfort-zone”. What a great story that clearly explains Get Busy Livin’ and its “Give to Live” motto.
Find out more information about our Youth Organization Volunteerism Grant here.
