By Phila. Hebrew Healthy Investigator reporters | Several Philadelphia Hebrew Public staff members believe volunteering can be fun and meaningful, according to recent interviews with Healthy Investigator reporters. “It feels good to help people,” said Ms. Denisha Wilson, academic dean for grades 3 to 5.
Volunteering can help you make friends, get healthy, and have more activities than just staying home, said Dr. Eric Kim, a University of British Columbia professor, on the American Heart Association website. Dr. Kim also said that being a volunteer with others can give people a “sense of purpose,” which can lead to living healthier lives with better mental health.
Being a volunteer can also help reduce stress and anxiety and help fight depression, according to an article on the Mayo Clinic Health System website. Ms. Wilson, who likes to be called Ms. W., said she has friends with children who needed help with schoolwork, so she offered to tutor them. She said she likes to help kids learn new things so they can grow. As a child, she said she helped out by carrying groceries and sweeping floors. You should “always find a way to be kind and help others,” said Ms. W.
Mr. Justin Moody, director of global studies, said, “There are many opportunities to volunteer, you just need to find the thing you like.” He said he volunteers to raise money for his son’s soccer team and his daughter’s theatre group.
Volunteering is important to Mr. Moody because he enjoys seeing his kids doing things that they like. When he was a child, he was a student mentor to help other kids. That taught him that volunteering was easy to do, according to Mr. Moody.
Miss Skylar Hetrick, student support counselor, said volunteering for the Red Cross during Hurricane Florence in North Carolina was very meaningful for her. She said she gets to meet new people when she volunteers.
“Trying different things gives an opportunity to try and learn about more of the world and about other people,” said Miss Skylar. She said she enjoys doing different things and volunteering with kids because she likes kids.
She also said she likes giving back to the community. She said she started volunteering for a program called AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). This program is a community service program with volunteers helping many different areas of the United State in recovering from or preventing disasters, according to their website. You can also develop leadership skills from volunteering, according to Miss Skylar. She said volunteering gave her a connection to be hired for a job.
Mr. Brandon Fleishman, special education teacher, said he likes to tutor kids so he can help them learn. He said he also volunteers to walk his neighbor’s dog and babysit his niece and nephew.
Illustration by Anna, fourth grade, Russell Byers Charter School, 2025-26.
