By Garrett Welch

If you go to the Antique Show in Mount Vernon you can walk down 1st Avenue to see all of the endless paint-chipped tables and old-fashioned furniture as you pick your way through the bustling crowd. You can see antiques that are just as unique as their sellers. What you might also notice is someone who isn’t there to sell or buy antiques, but to simply help move them. That someone is Mount Vernon junior, Josh Jordan. Jordan is there for the hard work and the gratitude.

Jordan, 16, began volunteering a year ago with a goal of earning 35 hours for National Honors Society. Through volunteering, he’s learned there are also more benefits than simply boosting his résumé, “The feeling of gratitude and helping someone is something I also enjoy,” he said.

Jordan described his experience as interesting and unpredictable. “I was going into it blind,” said Jordan not having a mentor and not knowing what to expect. One of his favorite moments was while he was volunteering for the Antique Show and he had just finished helping a lady pick up her heavier antiques. “She kept giving us compliments, saying and showing that she was grateful for the help.” Jordan also helped with replacing trash cans and setting up and taking down booths or tents at the event.

Jordan wasn’t just tied down to one location, he also helped the City of Lisbon through volunteering. He helped at a location where people could go to drop off their electronics, mostly big TVs. “We broke a couple of TVs, but I got to take home some spare electronic parts,” Jordan said.

Most of the events Jordan volunteered for he did with his twin brother Sam making the jobs easier to do and to have fun . He said he really didn’t have a mentor going into community service he just had to learn along the way. Even though Jordan was already working with his brother Sam, he preferred to work with a bigger group. “It’s easier to brainstorm and to get things done faster,” said Jordan. He said small groups slow down the process and can be a disadvantage when heavy labor is involved. Jordan also noted that you can meet a lot of new people at the volunteer events which adds to the whole experience.

Jordan said that the setup for volunteers is fairly easy to follow and to do, but wishes the events would be more organized for the volunteers with a set list to do and not having to wait to start working and find things to do on their own. Other than that he recommends volunteering to anyone that is willing to put in the time, whether it’s for school or for the sensation of helping someone.

Jordan advises future volunteers that it’s easy to find somewhere to volunteer. He also said that if you’re going to volunteer, try to do it in the summer where you have the most time available. If you’re doing it during school try and do it on the weekend so it doesn’t conflict with studies. Volunteering is time consuming, so commit if you are going to and be ready to help the community the best way you possibly can.