However, that won’t be the case this year. Instead of sitting on the couch most of the day, I will be spending my turkey day at a shelter serving food to underprivileged families, and you should consider doing the same.

It wasn’t easy giving up a day off from school — especially a day like Thanksgiving. After mulling it over, however, I realized I had plenty of weekends and breaks from school to watch football and eat my mom’s delicious, home-cooked food.

Traditions can be tough to give up because it’s what people have always known, but giving back to the community is one of the best feelings there is.

My mom is the most caring individual I know, and she always is volunteering for something. So growing up in the same household, my brothers and I always were asked to volunteer for some kind of event. When we would try to decline, my mom would always make us go. Mad at first, we would come away from the event with a good feeling.

After going to a couple events, it wasn’t long before we started volunteering on our own. Whether it was the Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or just a fundraiser for a cause, the feeling of helping others in need always got better and better.

The world is run on volunteers. Without volunteers, many of the world’s greatest causes wouldn’t be nearly as successful. Fighting cancer and AIDS and preventing hunger are just a few of the causes that need volunteers to help with charity events and raising funds.

Although volunteering always made me feel good because I was doing something to help others, I realized it made the people I helped feel better, and that was much more important. The people always are grateful for what they receive, but sometimes we forget to volunteer because we are too busy and don’t think about anybody but ourselves.

The holidays are a perfect example of forgetting about others. During the holidays, it is tough to think about anybody besides your own family, what gifts to buy, where Christmas is going to be held or what you’re eating for Christmas dinner.

There are so many things that need to be done, so it’s easy to forget about the people other than your family and friends. Don’t feel guilty — we have all done it. I’ve done it every holiday season. Although I am disappointed in that fact, it will change this year. Everyone should volunteer at least one day at a soup kitchen or some sort of shelter throughout the holidays.

If you’re worried about not having fun, don’t be. The holidays are about spending time with loved ones, and it shouldn’t matter where as long as you’re together.

According to census.gov, there are 46.2 million people in America living in poverty, and that number has been increasing throughout the last four years. Although not all 46.2 million people would need food, that still is a lot of people. Without volunteers’ help it can be very difficult to feed many of those people.

I am sure someone somewhere could use help serving food, because you can never have enough free help. So this holiday season, get your family together and find a place to serve a delicious hot meal to those in need.

You won’t regret it.

Derek Blalock is a State News staff writer. Reach him at blalockd@msu.edu.