The Gifts of the Gift for the Unknown Child Service
The Gift to the Unknown Child Service is really about service itself. At this year's service on Dec. 10, two members of the NCS Service Board shared their stories of volunteer work that has changed their own lives. Caroline "Callee" Johnsen '11 gave a moving account of working last summer at a school in Kibera, the second largest slum in Africa. "All the way to the horizon, as far as my awe-struck eyes could see, were rusty sheets of corrugated metal," she said. "My little bubble of Northwest DC had burst, beginning one of the most meaningful experiences I've ever had." Read Callee's story here.
Madeline "Maddy" Broas '12 shared what it has been like to work for the past two summers with children at the Lombardi Outpatient Pediatric Cancer Center. "I was privileged to witness firsthand the courage one acquires after being diagnosed with cancer and enduring its treatment. Watching these patients and interacting with them and their families has impacted me more than anything else in my life." Read Maddy's story here.
Luise Dziobek-Garrett '11, Rachel Okun '14, and Delia Chassaing '12 read quotes about the importance of service to others:
Teach this triple truth to all: a generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity - Buddha
Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy. – Mohandas Gandhi
It’s not about what you have or what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up and made better. It’s about what you’ve given back. - Denzel Washington
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The purpose of life is not to be happy--but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. -Leo Rosten
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of candle will never be shortened. Happiness never ceases by being shared. – Chinese Proverb
Gifts of music were also brought to the service by: 4th grade students, who sang and danced to the Italian carol "Dormi, Dormi;" Nicole Bonan '12, who played classical guitar; and carols sung by a juniors group and the a cappella group Sarsaparilla.
Photos from the Gift for the Unknown Child Service can be seen in an online slideshow and/or downloaded from the online album.
The donated gifts, which filled the stage of the Great Crossing of the Cathedral, are being contributed to the Latino and Black Student Funds.