Madison Hunt

Eng 1101
Sound the Alarm

Only 25% of people in the United States volunteer yearly. Are you a part of that

percentage? Ever since the beginning of October last year, I’ve been apart of that 25%.

Volunteering has taught me so many meaningful lessons about life, and I cannot begin

to express how grateful I am for that.

It was seven o'clock in the morning on a sunny October day when my father had

woken me up. I grogley looked up at him, and he informed me that I would be coming

with him to a Dayton Red Cross event. My mother was supposed to go originally, but

she ended up getting a migraine, which prevented her from doing anything. I scrambled

to get ready as my dad was yelling my name to leave. We hopped in the car, and as we

began driving down the road, I started to become curious as to what we were doing

exactly. I asked my dad what our duty for the day would be. He replied that we would be

walking around less fortunate neighborhoods, and offering fire alarms to every house.

As I was only fifteen at the time, I questioned if I would even be able to participate. In

his own snarky fashion, my father told me that he didn’t see why I wouldn’t be able to

help and that I would still have to come with him even if I couldn’t do anything. The rest

of the car trip went by at a medium pace. I put my headphones in once we got on the

highway, and chose to listen to “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac.

When we finally arrived at the chosen meeting spot, The Hope Hotel, we parked the

car and were immediately greeted by welcoming arms. It was easy to pick out who the

members of the Red Cross were, as they either had on a red jacket or a red shirt. As my

dad and I walked closer to the tent that had been set up, we were ambushed by the

head director, Corey. While my dad and Corey talked, I looked around noticing a table
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Eng 1101
full of donuts, muffins, and coffee. I rushed over to it, quickly grabbing a chocolate chip

muffin and dumping seven cups of creamer into a boiling hot cup of coffee. We stood

around for a bit, waiting for others to show up. When everyone arrived for the most part,

Corey introduced himself, and began to explain what our day would look like. We were

to get into groups of three, with each person having a different role. One person would

be the installer, another person would be the informant, and the other would be the

writer. The installer’s job was to install the fire alarm, the informant was to inform the

house owner about the dangers of fires, and the writer was to take down the home

owner’s information in case of an issue. Obviously, my dad and I got into the same

group. If he would’ve left me with total strangers it would’ve been a very awkward ride

home. My dad had chosen to be the informant, and I chose the writer. All we needed

was an installer. As we stood there, we were approached by a young man named

Rocky. Rocky politely asked if he could tag along with us, and we happily accepted.

After we had all gotten our materials for the trip, we loaded back into the car and drove

to the neighborhood given to us. When we had made it to our first house, we shuffled

out of the car and gathered our things. With hope in our hearts, we made our way to the

front door. My dad knocked, and we stood, waiting for someone to rush to the door.

There was no answer. After a minute or so, my dad knocked again. Still, no answer.

With a bit of disappointment, we walked to the next house.

As we made our way down the right side of the street, we realized it was probably

too early for anyone to answer their door. We had only had one person allow us in, and

we weren’t even able to install anything as Rocky had accidentally left behind one of his

tools. Admittingly, we were feeling slightly defeated, but we weren’t going to let that stop
Madison Hunt

Eng 1101
us. Once we crossed over to the left side of the street, things began to go much more

smoothly. As the time got later, more and more people were opening up their homes to

us. After we had finished installing in an older woman’s home, we walked next door to

see if we would have the same luck. My dad knocked twice after getting no response

the first time. Another elderly lady came to the door, and my dad rattled off his speech.

After consulting with her husband, the lady allowed us to come in, and showed us

where their previous fire alarms had been. Rocky went to work installing the new

alarms, while my dad and I talked to the elderly couple. They told us about their

granddaughter, and her love for horses. My dad told them about my grandmother, as

she has a special bond with horses as well. They had us sit down, and talk with them for

at least fifteen minutes. When we finally realized how fast the time had gone, we told

them that we had to leave, but thanked them for their hospitality. As we left, they shook

our hands and told us how much they appreciate what we were doing. The three of us

smiled, and walked out the door.

When the day had come to an end, I was extremely tired, but also incredibly

thankful. That day allowed me to realize that I am a very fortunate individual compared

to others in the world. Since then, my father and I have returned to do volunteer work

several times. We’ve installed fire alarms again, made lunches at the food bank, and

sent Christmas cards out to veterans without families. With the work we did on that

sunny day in early October, we were able to help eighteen families. It only takes a

second to make a difference in this world. What has stopped you?