Name: Shelby Helmick
From: Sutton, WV
Grade: 12
School: Braxton County High School
Votes: 0 
My name is Shelby Helmick and I have applied for this scholarship because I am in a
time of need, like all other college students. I am sure that my
qualifications and volunteer work will move you in a way to consider
me as a recipient of this scholarship. I have put in many hours of my
precious time into my community and school. I chose to volunteer at
the kitchen in the hospital knows as Braxton County Memorial over the
past 3 years. I have accumulated over 200 hours in the kitchen alone.
A few more have went to filing and shredding papers in the free time
I spent at the hospital. I chose to volunteer at BCMH in the kitchen
because it has been my life’s dream to cook for people. Culinary
Arts will be my major when I attend college in my freshman year and
working in an fully functional kitchen with adequate machinery has
impacted me in ways I couldn’t have been impacted by creating
cuisine at home. In the kitchen, it was my job to be line prep, make
the days snack, and help as needed with meals for the staff and
patients. One of the biggest struggles for me was learning how to use
big machinery. Before the best decision of my life, volunteering, I
had only used small machines and switching to a bigger setting with
bigger demands was intimidating to say the least, but since then I
have grown accustomed to the demands of a bigger facility. My
satisfaction, as a volunteer, came from the joy on the customers
faces when they realized they had something new for snack or extra
care went into making their meal that day. I would like to think I
made a difference in that kitchen, in the lives of the employees who
were bored with the usual bland snacks and meals. Seeing the
dieticians take extra care in 10, 20, or even 30 years would be
enough to make my heart weep tears of happiness. Overall, most of my
knowledge about managing a kitchen has come from BCMH. They were
caring and supportive in ways I can only hope to be in running my own
facility in the future. Volunteer work is something that touches
hearts, not only businesses.
