Helen Monson has always been interested in helping her community. Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer. One year, she organized a Super Saturday fun day for kids in the community. She also used to volunteer at the mint festival every year, One summer she served food, another year she organized an art programme.
After she retired, she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading.
She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community. She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published. Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and grandchildren.
After a hurricane( 飓风 ) destroyed some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre. She says,” I have always liked the Red Cross because the organization helps people in need no matter what.”
One day Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees( 难民 ) who needed to learn English. Now, she meets once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman from Somalia. Sahra is reading and writing skills. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. She developed the pictures, and then asked Sahra questions about them. In the end, they wrote a book  together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about
her everyday life.
Helen says, “The most rewarding( 有益的 ) part of volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help, They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs.”
When was Helen’s first volunteer experience for the American Red Cross?
What did Helen do after she retired?
Why was Ann excited when her book got published?
Where did Helen work when she volunteered again for the American Red Cross?
How far is Sahra living and working from Helen’s home?
Did Helen help Sahra to learn English?
What can you learn from Helen?