SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS SPUR MAJOR CHANGES

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Ria Rajesh. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

When Ria Rajesh started volunteering at 6 years old, she had no idea it would kick off a life of service. It started with simple food donations and sandwich assembly projects, taking on small tasks to benefit those in her community. By the time she was in the fourth and fifth grades, she was engaging with her peers through writing notes of kindness, bringing smiles to their faces while using her sense of creativity. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Ria’s service work went into high gear. Currently a high school junior, she’s the Maryland Youth Lead for NEST4US, an organization whose mission is to make the world better through kindness by mobilizing volunteers worldwide to advance progress on societal issues and spark equitable solutions for the greater good.

In this leadership role, Ria coordinates and supervises over 20 volunteers for large community service projects across Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, whether it’s food rescues across the region or book donation collections. She also leads the NEST4US Club at Clarksburg High School, spearheading service projects while helping mobilize fellow students to take action and be of service in their own community. While balancing additional volunteer roles, a busy calendar of extra-curricular activities and college preparatory classes, Ria is utterly dedicated to a life of service. In fact, she has contributed more than 650 hours of volunteer service across multiple organizations.

Ria’s service work has also informed her future career. Inspired by the community service she’s participated in thus far, she aspires to pursue a career in gynecology, deeply inspired to join the medical field by her community service participation. Hoping to show up for underrepresented communities like the ones she already volunteers in, Ria is a shining example of how volunteerism can serve as a launchpad that catapults young people into a triumphant adulthood. No matter one’s age, we could all learn from her desire to help others through volunteer work.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

Growing up, I saw a lot of families, especially in my community, struggling with food insecurity, and it’s a hard thing to watch. I’ve always loved helping people and seeing how prevalent it was throughout my local community, I knew that I had to do something about it. Nest4Us and other nonprofits gave me a way to take action on those issues and helped me channel that passion and those feelings that I had. Once you start showing up for your community, and you get to interact and see how your actions have such a positive impact on others, it’s an amazing feeling. I never really wanted to stop after that.

What inspires you to volunteer?

When I look at it from a larger picture, at the end of the day, we are all human. All we have is each other. We need to be there for one another to uplift each other and to be a community. That’s so important to me, community, because a support system can really help a person. It can take them so far in life, and I want to be there, to be that support system for others. And if it’s in my capability to help others, I want to do the most I can, because we have to be there for each other.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Nest4Us.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I took on the role of the youth leader for Nest4Us for the Maryland chapter. I mainly focused on publicizing these initiatives to students at local middle schools, elementary schools and high schools. I also serve as the Panera Food Rescue lead, and we collect excess goods and pastries that are produced by the company and redistribute them to local shelters and food banks. Currently, as a Maryland youth lead, I do a lot of book donations and pick-ups. I aid in supervising the food rescues and meal packing events in Maryland, while engaging in DC and Virginia service projects.
I also founded and am the president of the Nest4Us club at Clarksburg High School, where I lead a team of five members and supervise and organize projects for 40 club members. We do a multitude of projects, ranging from notes of encouragement and kindness to motivation posters for students during testing season to assembling mealtime inspiration kits. We have also hosted various drives through the school club.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I’ve always loved the in-person kinds of community service, like luncheons and hands-on distributions of the packages that we assemble and the meals that we cook, because being able to see someone’s face light up from an action that you’ve done is such an unforgettable moment and feeling. The conversations that I’ve had with the people that I’ve served are most notable to me. At the end of the day, when you finish your community service, and you’re sitting down, it’s that feeling of warmth and those genuine connections and moments that you’ve created that really last beyond the hours that you may have logged or the quantity of meals that you cooked or packed. It really emphasizes why community is so important.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

A real impact doesn’t have to be grand gestures. It can be something as simple as giving someone a smile in the hallway or writing a note filled with words of kindness and encouragement, and it’s brought me back to this point that community is just so important, and building relationships can really go far. We all think about empathy in a certain light, but being at the forefront of volunteering and community service has taught me that it can go so much deeper than just a word or an action. It can have a ripple effect.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

I honestly believe that waiting for someone else to address issues that you’re passionate about just won’t work. If we all waited for others to take action on the things that we’re passionate about, then we wouldn’t be moving forward as quickly as we do. When I think about my experience, I started volunteering at the age of 6, but I knew that I wanted to be a person who was there for those around me, and that was all I needed to take action to the best of my ability. I feel like experience or age shouldn’t restrict someone from wanting to make a difference.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

It can be just as simple as giving someone a smile in the hallway. Starting small really makes a big impact. We do a lot of notes of kindness projects and small packing projects. I feel like slowly integrating yourself into community service-related groups in your community. If you’re a student, slowly joining clubs that align with your volunteer goals and being exposed to those different communities and initiatives can help you see what type of impact you want to make. Maybe you want to start your own nonprofit and branch off from there, or maybe you want to continue volunteering with certain organizations or certain groups of people. But starting small really helps, because all it takes is one second.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

If they want to make a change, don’t be afraid of barriers. I mentioned earlier that my age, or not having a title, might seem like a barrier. But if you really want to make an impact on your community, every single person can do it. You just have to want it enough.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Ria? Find local volunteer opportunities.