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EASTON, Conn. Easton's Morgan Jordan believes people should give all year round not just during the holidays.
I feel that aiding those in need is not something I simply should do, but, rather, it is something that I am obligated, and happy to do, said Jordan, a Joel Barlow High School student.
Jordan spearheaded a coat drive and is currently collecting warm coats for the Bridgeport Mission with the national foundation Warm Coats & Warm Hearts.
Jordan has devoted much of time to various organizations in need and may have already helped out more people than most others do in a lifetime. This is his third year running a coat drive, but he also organized a food drive in the spring and works with the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood preschool in Bridgeport.
The high school student is pretty nonchalant about his volunteerism. I'm really just trying to provide an outlet for people in our community to give to the underprivileged and homeless in nearby areas," he said.
His experiences in volunteering with the needy have been a real eye opener, he said.
I realized that poverty is not some distant societal phenomena. Poverty is, in fact, close to home. We often don't associate our community, that being Easton and Redding, with abject poverty, but, in reality, extreme poverty exists only a few minutes away.
When asked why he does what he does, Jordan said, To know that I have helped to alleviate some of the immediate and physical asperities of another human is an indescribable feeling; to know that I have been a part of the effort to lessen the suffering of another being is something that I treasure.
To make another's life better is something that we should all strive to do each day, and by participating in this drive, we are doing just that, he said.
To donate to the Joel Barlow Coat Drive, residents can bring warm, gently used coats to the main lobby at the school. The Bridgeport Mission is in need of warm coats of all sizes. Residents can also donate hats, gloves, mittens, snow pants and boots.
Donations will be accepted at the high school until Dec. 23.
The Joel Barlow High School Student Council is also holding a Toys for Joys drive benefiting Bryant Elementary School in Bridgeport. Toy donations will be accepted at the high school until Dec. 9.
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