sarah lee fitzpatrick

MISS BLUE RIDGE 2010

Volunteer Efforts

           Webster's Dictionary defines volunteering as doing charitable or helpful work on ones own free will.  Volunteering helps the youth learn to respect others, learn to understand diverse peoples, develop leadership and future job skills, and learn what it means to be a good citizen.  Futhermore, youth who volunteer are 50% less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior.  In 1991, UCLA discovered that youth who volunteer are more likely to do well in school, graduate, vote, and be philanthropic.  President George W. Bush stated in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 2001, "Any definition of a successful life in America must include service to others."

          Sarah Lee Fitzpatrick is an activist for promoting an area of her platform, "YES!  Youth Engaged in Service," among today's youth.  While promoting volunteer efforts among teens, she helps them recognize the power of a thank you, the importance of working throughout their communities, and to value the power of good that volunteers can achieve when working together.  By doing this she hopes to plant a seed in the lives youth, that will one day develop into a passion and eagerness to serve others.

"Volunteerism is not just about spontaneous acts of kindness - It's a lifestyle."

-Sarah Lee Fitzpatrick

          Some of the volunteer projects that Sarah Lee has either participated in or founded are as follows: