Hours add up for volunteer

Eckland will receive the award at Abington’s Senior Awards Night, May 31. 

The award recognizes citizens who volunteer a significant amount of time to serving their community. The award is presented by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, on behalf of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

Eckland, a National Honor Society member, received a packet last week from President George W. Bush, she said, recognizing her for an “outstanding” amount of volunteer hours.

Eckland has participated in the Walk for Hospice, for the past four years, and said she has no intentions of stopping. The Walk for Hospice South Shore division is a major Massachusetts fundraiser supports charitable organizations. Eckland is also a two-year volunteer for Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger in Boston, which takes place annually during the first week in May.

Eckland has participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk for the past five years, and was a team captain for the past four, she said.

Eckland said she was inspired to walk for the American Cancer Society in tribute to an ailing family member, who has shown her how important it is to volunteer and help others. 

“I feel that it’s my responsibility to help others if they are unable to help themselves,” she said.

Eckland has also volunteered for the Appalachia Service Project in West Virginia during the summers of ‘06 and ‘07, to help reconstruct houses for low-income families. Appalachia Service Project (ASP) is an open-to-all Christian ministry that fosters to needs of Central Appalachia. According to its Web site, http://www.asphome.org, 15,000 volunteers annually repair homes for 400-500 low-income families in rural areas of Central Appalachia. Eckland said she plans to return this summer.

“It was very much a shock, I couldn’t believe the poverty level that was down there, but I bonded very well with the family.”

Eckland and other volunteers traveled in a 15-van group from Pembroke to Appalachia with 15 passengers per van, 105 in total. Space is limited and 105 is the maximum allowed on the trip, she said.

“There’s been a wait list the past couple of years because so many people want to go,” she said.

Eckland said she started volunteering in fourth or fifth grade. She volunteered for six years at the Early Childhood Center in Abington.

“When I was in elementary school I used to volunteer with the special needs kids and stayed indoors and played games with them during recess,” Eckland said. 

She was in the drama program, and worked with special needs students also in the program, she said.

“I knew that I wanted to become a special education teacher, just seeing how much they appreciate the help that others can bring to them,” she said.

Eckland plans to study special needs education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and was accepted March 30. Eckland said she chose Vanderbilt because it is recognized as the leading special needs education program in the country. 

“I want to become the best special education teacher that I can,” she said. “It’s people’s responsibility to help others, and it’s the most rewarding thing you can do. It’s rewarding to know that people care.”