As the saying goes, “1. Do well and have well.” Liz’s life was changed forever that year. It all started with her kindness towards two strangers. One early morning, they walked into the diner where she worked.

Tim and Paul stepped into the 130 Diner for breakfast after they fought a terrible fire for 12 hours. 2. 当付餐费的时候, 他们很惊讶。 The young waitress had paid their bill, leaving a sweet message on their bill instead, “Your meal is on me today. Thank you for serving people and running into the places everyone runs away from.”

Touched, the two firefighters shared her kind action on social media. It spread quickly. And later they found out the true story of the waitress who had paid for their meal. Liz Woodward had been trying to make a living. Her father was paraplegic (瘫痪的) because of a brain illness. 3. 他们决定帮助这位女士。They set up a campaign (运动) to raise $ 10,000 for a wheelchair-accessible car for her father. The donations, however, did not stop when the campaign ended. After hearing of her kindness, Mobility Ventures, the wheelchair-accessible cars producers, refused to take the money. 4. Instead, they gave the family a car for free as a Christmas gift.

Liz was so grateful to the two firefighters and many strangers who have reached out to help her, saying, “5. All the kindness is really unbelievable! I hope this brings hope to other people in similar situations.”

Do you know Bach’s Bakery(面包店)? It is a famous bakery in Changsha. Its owner is Uwe Brutzera , a 51-year-old man from Germany. If you go there, you can buy all kinds of fresh bread and cake. 1. To our surprise, most of the workers are deaf people.

Uwe has run the bakery for more than 10 years. He arrived in Changsha for the first time in November 1999. “I remember the airport was very small, and I didn’t see many children on the street.” said Dorothee, Uwe’s wife “In my hometown, 2. 面包是最受欢迎的食物。 You don’t need to communicate with others when making it, so it’s a right job for deaf people.” Uwe said.

Then in 2011, Uwe opened a bakery in Changsha that hires(雇用) deaf people and teaches them bread-making for free, 3. 因为耳聋的人很难找到工作。 So far Uwe’s bakery has trained more than 20 deaf people. Some of them now have become bakers at famous restaurants and star-rated hotels. And 4. they also did a lot to help those deaf kids to learn how to speak.

They miss their own hometown very much. In April 2023, they are going to leave and return to Germany. They need someone who can run the bakery and help the deaf.5. They really make a big difference to these disabled people.

People do volunteer work for many reasons. Let’s look at several top reasons. After each reason, there is an example. Check (打上钩) the box if the example matches (与…相一致) what you want to get from the volunteer experience:

You want to help in a place which is important to you. For example, you might choose to clean up the city parks because you want them to be better places.

You want to meet others. When I moved to the town I now live in, I volunteered at my son’s school because I wanted to meet other people with their children.

You want to learn something new. 我的儿子过去很喜欢戏剧，但是他害怕上台。After watching so many plays on stage (在舞台上）by others, he now volunteers for one theater.他想得到一些训练并且慢慢地学到舞台经验。

Which did you check? Your reason or reasons for becoming a volunteer will help guide you along your way. Maybe you didn’t check any. That is fine. There are other reasons why you want to become a volunteer. Although everyone has his or her own reason, becoming a volunteer will open a new door for us and may change our life, and you will feel like you really make a difference!