Haley Barnes’ charity work goes back at least until 2012, when she started with the National Charity League, an organization through which mothers and daughters volunteer together.
“I do that with my mom,” she said. “It’s kind of like a mother-daughter thing…We go out and do our own service projects.”
But that was just the beginning. Since she started, Haley has used her people skills and willingness in a variety of ways to serve others to try to make the world a better place.
Why does she do it? “I just enjoy it,” she said.
She’s awakened at 3:45 a.m. to serve breakfast to the homeless. Recently, she chaired a parent’s night out event for her school Service Board that hosted around 80 children, a record for the program.
“She was very involved in planning and organizing this event,” said her advisor, Angela Morris-Long, who described Haley as very organized and helpful.
That’s only a part of her volunteer resume.
One of Haley’s favorite aspects of charity and volunteering is her time at Northside Shepherd, a senior center. There, she works with elderly people and displays her outgoing personality to liven up the mood.
In May, Haley participates in an all-night fundraiser for cancer research. The project, according to Haley, “is extremely fun and takes months before to plan.”
Recently, she recently took a mission trip to Peru. “We went to a church/pre-school and built a new room and a roof, tutored some kids, played with them,” Haley said.
Asked what she learned from the trip, she replied, “I guess my biggest take away was that all the people there were so nice, even though that’s probably the most impoverished place I’ve been to.”
She found the trip inspiring, she said, because of the people she met. She said her experience made her much more appreciative of the things she had living in the United States.
What’s Next?
Haley’s applying to many colleges. She’s thinking she might like to attend Tulane University.
This article was prepared by Dave Ghimire, a junior at Dunwoody High School.