Photograph by Kathie De La Torre
For SHS senior Jennifer Cheng, volunteering to help others just comes naturally.
Jennifer Cheng puts her 'heart' into volunteering
By Leigh Ann Maze
Jennifer Cheng, a senior at Saratoga High School, is quiet and unassuming in her demeanor, but powerful in her deeds. Her list of volunteer activities would knock the socks off any philanthropist.
But that's not why she does it.
In talking about her many volunteer activities, Cheng doesn't mention clichéd phrases such as "wanting to give back to the community." Volunteerism truly seems to come naturally to Cheng, as breathing or sleeping or eating. It's just part of her life.
"Of course it's good because you're helping people," she says. "But if you get involved with it, it just becomes a natural thing to do, an everyday thing."
The first time Cheng remembers volunteering was when she played clarinet at Terreno Gardens nursing home in Los Gatos as a freshman. From there it snowballed.
Cheng has since created a philanthropic organization of her own with her friend Felicia Hui called Hugs with Hearts. The two wrote a grant for Hugs with Hearts and on April 1, received $660 from the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley.
Cheng volunteers to help people with HIV and AIDS in San Francisco and answers phones for a local crisis hotline. She is also an officer with the California Scholarship Federation (CSF), an academic club at SHS that centers on community service. CSF adviser Gail Wasserman nominated Cheng for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, a national award that honors outstanding community service by young people. Cheng was chosen as a finalist and given a medal and certificate.
"She is, without a doubt, one of the most altruistic kids I have ever seen," said Wasserman. "She truly loves to help people, and not in a superficial way."
Cheng's three years with CSF were instrumental in acquainting her with many volunteer activities. While trying to find activities CSF could do, Cheng came across many projects she pursued on her own such as Project Open Hand in San Francisco, which was too far away for CSF participation.
Cheng and Hui volunteer with Project Open Hand twice monthly. They work at the grocery center shopping and packing groceries for people who are HIV positive or have AIDS.
"I usually do it with a friend, so it's not a real burden or anything," Cheng says.
Cheng and Hui started Hugs with Hearts last summer after spending time in local shelters and receiving donation request lists.
They noticed the shelters always asked for basic necessities such as toiletries and batteries, but not toys. "To a lot of kids toys are a source of comfort and happiness," Cheng says.
The two found that the shelters are bombarded with toys and stuffed animals during Christmas, but not throughout the year. So Hugs with Hearts was born.
The program gives new stuffed animals to children at local shelters. Cheng and Hui don't just drop off any old stuffed animals. They first volunteer in the shelter several times to get to know the children. Then, using the funds they raise for Hugs with Hearts, they purchase each child a stuffed animal according to the child's age and preferences. "We hit up all the toy stores," Cheng says.
They put tags with the children's names on all of the animals and deliver them to the shelter. Last fall, Cheng and Hui donated a stuffed animal to each of the 23 children at the Commercial Street Shelter in San Jose.
Cheng and Hui are currently working with a shelter for battered women and their children, and plan to give stuffed animals as well as picture books with personal inscriptions to the children there. They can afford the picture books, thanks to the $660 grant they received from the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley. They also hope to plan a story time for the children and bring some treats when they deliver the gifts. "Make it a little celebration," Cheng says.
As graduation draws near, Cheng and Hui have begun training others to take over as leaders for Hugs with Hearts.
"There are some leaders who are very much the center of things," Wasserman says. "But Jennifer is happy to just sit in the corner and watch everything she has worked for come to fruition without anyone knowing she is responsible for it all."
Cheng received her last college acceptance letter on April 3, and will most likely attend Cornell University in the fall.
"I have a lot of things I want to try," Cheng said of going to college, mentioning journalism, choir and literary magazines. "But I definitely want to have some kind of volunteer commitment."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
