Hockessin teen volunteer gets award from White House
It's not every day a Delawarean gets a pat on the back from the president of the United States.
But Hockessin teen Kevin Jasani received such a recognition last month. He was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award in recognition of the hundreds of hours he spent helping the poor last year.
"He has a heart to help," said Alvin Walker, pastor at Faith Victory Christian Center, the church that nominated Jasani for the award. "He has turned his passion into action."
Jasani is a junior at Archmere Academy in Claymont. He has spent the past three years volunteering with Faith Victory, a nondenominational church in Claymont that has built its ministry around organizing such things as holiday dinners and book bag drives for the poor.
"It has become my hobby to help people, and it is really what I like to do now," Jasani said.
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His first experience volunteering was a Thanksgiving Day meal Faith Victory served to the poor in Wilmington three years ago. He said he wasn't enthusiastic at first.
"To be honest, when my mom told me that on Thanksgiving morning we were going to wake up at 8 o'clock and go somewhere and do stuff, I thought, 'Well, I wanted to sleep in,'" Jasani said.
What he experienced that day has changed his life.
"Throughout the process of the event, I felt happy about what I was doing. I thought to myself that this organization is doing a wonderful thing by helping others on Thanksgiving," Jasani said. "Most people are probably at home cooking a turkey."
Walker said since that day, Jasani has grown from a volunteer that shows up to the events to someone who is constantly involved, designing the Faith Victory's T-shirts, organizing events of his own and more.
"He gets involved and makes things happen. You don't find kids at 17 doing what he does," Walker said.
To qualify for the presidential award, Jasani had to clock at least 250 hours volunteering in a year. Walker said he has gone beyond that in the past year. Aside from giving his own time, he helped mobilize Archmere to help the poor.
Jasani, who runs track and cross country at the school, organized a shoe drive that donated 100 pairs of shoes from his teammates and fellow students to the homeless. He also organized clothing and food drives through Archmere and coordinated Walker coming to the school to tell students about the church's work helping the poor.
The result: 27 of the 70 volunteers serving food to a group of 300 on Thanksgiving were Archmere students.
"I wanted them to see what Faith Victory does and, as an example, what you can do to give back to the community," Jasani said. "If you go out and volunteer with someone or some organization like Faith Victory, you can understand where people are coming from, understand where you are coming from and help people."
Jasani said didn't have much interaction with the poor before volunteering. The experience has made him see things differently.
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"I look at them and think we can't be selfish we have to be grateful," Jasani said. "I got to see things from their point of view and see a little what their life is like from their perspective."
He said he wants those who are in a position to give up hope to see there are people who care.
"I want them to know that they are not alone. There are people like Faith Victory who are helping them," Jasani said. "They are not forgotten. We want to help them."
Jasani will be off to college in two years, but he said his time working with Faith Victory will form his life path.
"It will be a part of me," Jasani said.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.