Volunteering and values

In the four years Hank de Lambert has been volunteering, he has gained confidence and leadership skills. And that helps a bunch when you're 17 years old and your school's associated student body president.

"Volunteering opened my eyes beyond my home, school and practice field," said the straight "A" senior and baseball catcher at Cardinal Newman High School.

"Volunteering keeps me on task for my future. The average kid might have questions about what he's working toward. The challenge of volunteering has helped me decide what's right for me," he said.

As a freshman, de Lambert chose to help out at the same day care center he attended as a youngster.

"I helped out with snack time, played outdoor activities, helped with homework," he recalled.

Volunteering with children taught him about patience and communication.

"Working with little kids, sometimes they don't always listen, but you can't manipulate them. You have to repeat and make things understandable," he said.

His volunteering sophomore year centered again on working with younger students over winter break.

"There was no homework, so the challenge was to get them away from video games. I started flag football and handball games," he said.

He found that running, laughing and playing was a great way to connect with children, fellow volunteers and staffers. He became the sports guy, the one who instigated fun and activity.

By junior year, with encouragement from his girlfriend, Mia Lincoln, he committed a large portion of his volunteer hours to Lakeport Rotary, preparing food baskets for people in need.

He watched people drive up at 7 a.m. to wait for the distribution. He noticed so many single mothers with very small children. He heard grandmothers whisper "thank you" as he helped heft boxes to cars.

"I've seen street people in San Francisco, but this was so different. Little children just in awe of food. In awe of milk and a sack of potatoes," he said. "I saw what's really going on outside of school. There are people in need in our communities."

He had fun volunteering too. The dining hall echoed with laughter on the night of his school's big crab feed, when he and others hauled tray after tray of crustaceans the 150 yards between the lunch room and the gym. He took pride in being among a group of students dedicated to the behind-the-scenes dirty work. By the end of junior year he tallied about 55 hours of volunteering.

He had long channeled his own impulse to contribute into school activities and responsibilities. In fifth grade, he served as his class president. In his sophomore year of high school, he was class publicist. By junior year, he was class president.

This year, de Lambert's summertime volunteering focused on Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research.

"I pursued working for Relay for Life because my mother, as a six-year cancer survivor, inspired me," he said.

This year, he plans to apply to Ivy League colleges in order to study biophysics or bioengineering. To prepare himself to enter the medical field, he decided to volunteer at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Through volunteering, he was allowed to shadow a doctor, observing intake procedures in the emergency room.

"I've seen nearly everything. I've seen a helicopter bring in a patient for ICU. I've seen rape victims, gang members being guarded by police, elderly victims of falls, drug overdoses, and homeless patients," he said.

He's learned that he's not a fainter and he's not one to hang back. A lot of the skills he used at Memorial Hospital, he says, he gained through volunteering.

Whether talking to patients, helping out with kids, recruiting youth for Relay for Life or serving as student body president, he credits his school's insistence on volunteering for helping him grow as a person.

"I can remember dragging a little bit, volunteering in freshman year. But as soon as I realized I could really help someone, it was just cool. Volunteering has affirmed my path," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Rayne Wolfe at 521-5240 or rayne.wolfe@pressdemocrat.com.