Acceptance speech

Jaunai Parson

8^th

Citizen's Excellence in Community Involvement Award

This award is not a celebration for me, but for the many people who make small sacrifices each day to help the community. Our communities are in danger because of how little community members care about the place they live. We as people all live in neighborhoods and communities where we should care for ourselves and our neighbors.

   “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa

            This quote signifies how a community is not the area, but it is the people that make it a community. We all have to come together in order for change to sustain. We can fundraise, clean-up, and promote activities in communities, but they people are what keep it going. Community members have to really care about the place they live in order for it to become a better place to live.

     Communities are places where children are raised and families are grounded. In order to keep the ideals of a family structure in our communities we must care for and sustain our schools, community centers, and the environments we live in so that our children have a safe place to be.  

“Heroes didn't leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn't wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else's. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.”

― Jodi Picoult, Second Glance

            We all have to work together to better our communities, the places where we live, raise children, make friends, and unify our families. The community cannot keep itself afloat, we all have to help it and set a good example for those to come. If the children of the community see one person make a difference it can change that community forever. That is why this award is not only for me, but for the entire community and the work we have all done.