FINDING HER VOICE THROUGH VOLUNTEERISM

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Price O’Neal. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Price O’Neal learned to get out of her comfort zone through volunteer work. While she’s not the biggest talker in the world, the 17-year-old high school student was inspired to get out there and help others. Through friends and parents in her community, she learned about the National Charity League, an organization that fosters the mother-daughter relationship through an ongoing commitment to philanthropy, culture and leadership. Whether she’s serving meals at the local Women’s Center or tutoring children who live in refugee communities, Price has learned to build self-esteem by performing esteemable acts, immersing herself in unfamiliar spaces and reaching out to new people.

Price is also the founder of Hope Goals, an organization that’s dedicated to empowering women and children through community service, education and sport. Her endeavor spearheads service projects like gathering winter clothing for children and undergarments for women dealing with homelessness. Thus far, she’s provided winter clothing for over 750 kids and supplied an entire week’s worth of undergarments for 750 women experiencing homelessness. In fact, she’s racked up over 250 hours of volunteering. That’s a significant lift on top of her heavy school workload and a busy lacrosse schedule. Still, Price is utterly dedicated to her volunteer work because the rewards are so worth it to her.

While Price will be graduating from high school and heading off to college in the fall, she’s not quite sure where the future will take her. But she knows one thing for sure: She will continue to help others wherever she goes. She feels volunteer work provides her with a sense of gratitude for what she has and instills her with a sense of purpose, fueling her motivations and giving her a greater sense of purpose. Price’s story is a powerful example of how volunteerism can serve as a launchpad for a brighter future.

Tell us about your volunteer role with the National Charity League.

With the National Charity League, I make meals for the Women’s Center, whether that’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. Then I’m also working on my own foundation, Hope Goals, where I have organized a donation drive to collect essential needs, like underwear, socks, mittens and anything they really need, and I’ve been doing that throughout the month. With the National Charity League, they’ve helped me raise those donations. I’ve reached out to a lot of different girls and moms, and they have been amazing and really helped me gather those things and raise those donations.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I would see firsthand how much these donations are really impacting other people. It really made me feel like I was helping others, and that feeling of helping others was something that I couldn’t really get from anything else. It was just something that I’ve never been able to get from anything. That was one of the reasons why it was something I wanted to put that time into. It really helped me gain my perspective, and I just wanted to help as much as I could.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

I’ve always felt especially connected to supporting women and children. After learning more about the needs of my community, I really realized how many people lack basic essentials, and that a lot of people take them for granted. I’m incredibly fortunate to have so much in my own life, and that perspective motivated me to take action. I just wanted to create something meaningful and tangible to make a difference.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

With National Charity League, I want to continue working with them throughout high school, but I would like to carry my foundation, Hope Goals, into college. And then probably out of college, and maybe even expand it outside of just Raleigh. I would just like to continue, whether or not I go to college somewhere outside of Raleigh. I want to make sure that I focus on helping others, because I know that it really fuels my life and makes me have purpose in life.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I know I keep saying it, but seeing the fruits of my labor and how they impact others and how powerful they are. Seeing at a younger age that I can really make that big of a difference and do something that meaningful and make a difference in others’ lives has really felt like a reward to me.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I’ve learned a lot about leadership and communicating with others. I’m not a big talker, and so it’s taught me a lot of communication skills with adults and other people who are in leadership positions. Also, it’s taught me how I can help people and how I can be a leader without being the loudest one in the room. I can be a leader and impact others in that way, too.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

I think it’s important because it helps you feel a lot of gratitude for the things you have. For me, it gave me a real sense of purpose, and it helped me feel like the things that I was doing weren’t just serving me, but were serving others.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

If you’re able to find something, whether it’s helping children or supporting women or animals or the elderly, there are so many different organizations. Put in some research and find one, and test out some different organizations. You can probably find one that you connect to. If you find something that you really connect to, the work will become even more meaningful.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

I really want people to take away that at a younger age, there’s nothing you can’t do, especially when it’s helping other people. Maybe it’s making baskets and handing them out when you see someone on the street. You can make an impact no matter your age or what’s going on in your life. It’s helped me so much with leadership, but also my mental health and how I feel as a person. Just knowing that whatever’s going on in my life, I can always go and do something to help others, and I am making an impact in some sort of way. There’s always somewhere where you’ll be welcomed when it has to do with volunteer work.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Price? Find local volunteer opportunities.