Georgia student honored with award for volunteer work

Courtesy of Life Care Centers

A Georgia high school sophomore has been honored at a national gathering for his work volunteering with the elderly.

On Aug. 26, Life Care Centers of America gave 15-year-old Miguel Harris the group's Youth Volunteer of the Year Award at a ceremony in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Harris, a sophomore at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, has volunteered for more than 240 hours at a care center in Lawrenceville. According to Life Care Centers, he calls bingo for the center two days a week, has one-on-one visits with residents, and conducts and art class.

“My mom took me to volunteer, and I became attached to the residents,” Harris said. “I enjoy the routine.”

The 15-year-old, whose mother is a therapist assistant at the building, also worked at the facility's annual Ms. Life Care of Lawrenceville pageant.

“Miguel has learned an important lesson at an early age about how we can use our personal gifts to enrich the lives of others,” Life Care President Beecher Hunter said in a statement. “The delight he has brought to these residents is incalculable.”

The Youth Volunteer Award is given to one volunteer age 18 or younger every year.