One of the great axioms of service is that young people who volunteer will go on to incorporate service into their lives forever more. Youth service and service learning therefore benefit communities for years and years afterwards. Jennifer Burrell is a great example of how that happens.

“I’ve been volunteering all my life, it seems,” says Jennifer, Associate Vice President of Corporate Enrollment Support for University of Phoenix. “I started out as a candy striper in high school at the local hospital.”

Since 2003 she has volunteered with the UMOM New Day Center, which provides homeless families and individuals in Phoenix with safe shelter and support services. On Tuesday evenings you can find her at the center, reading one-on-one to children in the “Read to Me” program, a co-project with HandsOn Greater Phoenix.

Jennifer’s efforts also include running with Team University of Phoenix in the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon to benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, building furniture for a school, and packing food boxes for a local food bank. As a board member for HandsOn Greater Phoenix, she advises that action center about external affairs and fundraising.

Clearly, that long-ago candy striper was just getting started in changing her community for the better.