“No matter how much or how little you have, you can always give back by doing something as simple as giving someone a smile,” says Bailey Duhé, a senior at Mount Carmel Academy.
Duhé is extremely active in her school community. When she is not volunteering, she’s attending meetings for Mount Carmel’s Student Council, Mount Carmel Cubs Against Destructive Decisions and Tri-M, Shinto Tori Kabuki – drama club. She is very active in Mount Carmel’s plays and also participates in Holy Cross High School’s plays.
Every summer Duhé participates in Mount Carmel Academy’s Summer Service Learning Camp.
In 2008, Duhé and her best friend Jena Ducros befriended a gentleman in the Ozanam Inn, the non-profit shelter for the homeless in New Orleans. After the last day of Mount Carmel’s Service Learning Camp, Duhé and Durcros made banana pudding from scratch and delivered it to him. Duhé says, “This was the most rewarding experience for me because I was able to directly impact someone’s life by simply making them smile and brightening up their day.
“I love volunteering. It is so important to give back to the community because in my opinion, the only way to truly make yourself happy is by making others around you happy, whether you know them or not.”
Every year she helps put together a talent show for the residents at the Magnolia School. The night of the show they take turns MCing the event. This past year 15 residents came out to show off their talents. The various acts included choreographed dances from Michael Jackson’s music to “Proud Mary.”
“This not only gives the residents who perform a chance to show their talents, but also a chance for the other residents to see each other perform and laugh together,” says Duhé. “This is by far the event that I am most proud of in my activism career.”
With graduation quickly coming up in May, Duhé is planning on attending either Vanderbilt University in Nashville or Tulane University. She plans on studying anthropology or psychology before going to law school. Duhé wants to continue to do plays throughout college as well and plans to continue volunteering.
