Grace Sherrill is a Senior at Greensboro Day School.
For the past three weeks, I have been doing my senior internship at Backpack Beginnings. I am a senior at Greensboro Day School. As my time with this internship is coming to an end, I have been reflecting on the incredible impact Backpack Beginnings has on the communities it serves.
Although I can easily cite statistics about the thousands of children Backpack Beginnings has fed, clothed, and comforted, I am here to testify to a benefit of the organization that I don’t think has seen the recognition it deserves:
Backpack Beginnings inspires and empowers its young volunteers to be service-oriented individuals who will always strive to make a positive, sustainable impact on their community.
As I head off to college next year and continue to consider what my adult life will entail, I cannot overstate the immense impact of the work I have done with Backpack Beginnings on my vision for my future. Learning from the volunteer staff and watching them take in stride every challenge that comes with running a non-profit has modeled for me what an impactful organization looks like and ignited in me a desire to emulate this in my future ventures. I know that I am not alone when I say that the volunteer staff, with their desire to address the substantial need for these services in our community and continuous effort to do so, are role models for what I hope to become.
So, when you support Backpack Beginnings, it is important to understand that beyond the organization’s remarkable immediate impact, its ability to ignite a love for service in its volunteers is an immeasurable benefit of the program that should not be forgotten.
Written by student intern Grace Sherrill on May 20, 2016.
