Content Warning: Points of Light is proud to share the following uplifting and inspiring story. However, we acknowledge that a small portion may be difficult for some readers. We encourage you to please care for your own well-being above all.
Diya Mankotia, now 17, was in eighth grade when she was diagnosed with an eating disorder. On her long road to recovery, she quickly learned that there were limits to the support around her. The experience could have left her distraught, but instead, it drove her to be there for others and advocate for change.
In August 2024, Diya founded Project EDSA as a school club, later expanding to 90 student-led chapters across 13 countries. Her focus is on eating disorder prevention, support and awareness.
Recently, Project EDSA was awarded a $10,000 grant that will fund campaigns and events as well as volunteer training. Today, the organization has more than 400 volunteers supporting the mission.
Diya goes above and beyond developing volunteers and running campaigns. Last year, she distributed over 150 mental health kits at her school during National Eating Disorders Week. They contained things like cards of encouragement, fidget toys and a 12-page self-designed mental health recovery book with hotline numbers and educational games. She’s even leveraged her research at Harvard STRIPED to fight for legislation banning the sale of diet pills to minors in three states.
After partnering with the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), America’s oldest eating disorder nonprofit, EDSA will become their official youth program in March. Together, they will continue to advance eating disorder advocacy and prevention among youth.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
I was diagnosed with anorexia in eighth grade. I’m from a South Asian family, and my parents are very traditional. For them, mental health–especially eating disorders–was all very new, because food is a largely-celebrated aspect of our culture.
It was difficult to have conversations, and it felt like I couldn’t properly communicate what I was experiencing. And even though I had supportive friends, I would sometimes notice them getting tired of my behavior. One day, I went to my school’s mental health website, and there were no resources for eating disorders. That was my first realization that there might be systemic absences in support.
That summer, I emailed relevant nonprofits to see how I could fundraise. ANAD responded by asking me to help develop their school ambassador program. I eventually became an ambassador myself, but after a year of piloting it at my school, I noticed the impact was due largely to the in-person chapter I’d formed, not virtual events. Project EDSA developed as an extension of that program to focus on mentoring students to lead their own prevention-based chapters.
Diya Mankotia, founder and executive director of Project EDSA, packages 988 crisis resource bookmarks for distribution to schools and community organizations.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Project EDSA.
As co-executive director, I mentor and guide our chapter leaders. Before onboarding, we train leaders on a module that we developed with ANAD to build their knowledge, skills and advocacy. Then, we provide them with ready-made tools and campaign kits to lead their own events.
We’ve also partnered with Stanford’s Stice Research Lab, where I’m a research intern. They’ve developed a prevention program called “The Body Project,” which effectively prevents over 63% of eating disorders with a two- to four-year follow up. It’s peer-led, and I’m trained to facilitate. We’re currently setting up training for our chapters, so I can teach them to become facilitators. When peers deliver intervention, it’s been shown to be more effective than when clinicians do.
We also meet with our volunteers weekly and run an internship program. Research interns do original research on eating disorders that we translate into youth-led guides.
Over the summer, I worked on a suicide prevention campaign where I distributed over 10,000 bookmarks with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. And this is my first year on the RRISD School Health Advisory Council made up of parents, district members and three students. We draft mental health policies based on gaps we see in our 56 schools then pitch them to the Board of Trustees.
What are the goals of your advocacy?
I’m interested in preventative science, which is tied to policy. Insurance policies associated with eating disorder treatment discriminate admission to inpatient programs through weight-based criteria. Eating disorders are mental health conditions. Weight changes are only symptoms. Many diagnosed individuals never get proper treatment because of that.
With prevention work, we can impact many people at once, rather than treating individual patients. And it ensures people don’t fall into a position where they have to depend on unfair treatment practices.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
I’ve been in recovery for over two years now. The most rewarding part has been realizing that I’m not alone in my struggles. It’s inspiring to see students apply to start a chapter, because I know how much courage it takes. Talking about eating disorders in high school is difficult. I’m happy to be alongside them, giving them resources I wish I’d had when I started.
How can people reading this support people who might be at risk or have an eating disorder?
Educate yourself on what eating disorders actually are, the symptoms and how it affects someone. When a person is struggling with an eating disorder, their thoughts become disoriented. Be mindful of your words, and try to empathize. Just be there for them. These conditions take a long time to recover from, and it can be demotivating to see people give up on you because you don’t seem to be making progress. Be patient.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
I used to hide my eating disorder from my parents and even myself. Even after I was hospitalized, I would have never admitted that I was struggling. It wasn’t until I got my test results back that I was able to be honest with myself and the people around me.
Sometimes, I still have thoughts like that, but now I have a supportive community I can talk to. Sharing your story not only helps free yourself of these burdens, but it also makes other people feel like it’s okay to share their struggles, too. It creates community.
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Jamie Cheng. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Creating art can be a relaxing experience or a chance to reflect. It can inspire creativity or spark a memory. Fifteen-year-old Jamie Cheng loves losing herself in any medium, even if it’s simple latte art. Three years ago, Jamie and a friend founded Paintfluence, an organization that offers free art classes in shelters for the unhoused and underserved communities.
With 16 chapters across the US and more than 20 volunteers in her chapter alone, Jamie’s mission is spreading. As she works her way through high school, Jamie is empowering people with creativity. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in social entrepreneurship. Aside from her artistic pursuits, she’s a fan of using STEM for humanity and has a particular interest in biomedical engineering and research.
What inspires you to volunteer?
My first time was around third grade with a program in my school called Jump Rope for Heart. Every year, my older brother and I would go to the mall or the local college and create a poster asking people to donate to the American Heart Association.
On a mission to empower people with creative outlets, Jamie prepares to ship Paintfluence art kits to underserved regions around the world.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Paintfluence.
I serve as the executive lead. I mainly design and lead art workshops for my chapter. I also coordinate these classes for our chapter leaders. Basically, we have resources and guides for them as to how they should structure their classes as well as a few inspo pictures for painting ideas. I design the curriculum.
I also organize public exhibitions in my area and, once, in front of The Met while I was visiting New York. I lead team meetings every two weeks, recruit volunteers and chapter leaders and oversee the shipment of our art kits.
I often hear negative stereotypes about unhoused people, like suggesting they’re lazy. From what I’ve seen, their circumstances are reflected by systematic inequalities rather than their work ethic. And I want to challenge those stereotypes with my organization.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
When I was younger, financial barriers made it hard to afford art programs and supplies, so I found myself creating on my driveway. I became really passionate about it. When I was 10 or 11, volunteering at a homeless shelter, I noticed that many of the residents were struggling with finding a purpose in life. I thought it’d be meaningful to provide a creative outlet that could potentially help them rediscover a passion for art.
Paintfluence provides free art programs for people experiencing homelessness and underserved communities. There are two components. The first: we teach art classes at shelters and display and sell paintings at public art exhibitions. The artists have a choice to keep them, of course, but they can also let us sell them to raise funds for the shelters. We’ve raised over $12,000 in this way.
The other component is packing and distributing custom art kits to underserved areas around the world, including refugee camps and community centers. We’ve distributed more than 550 so far. Each kit contains a canvas, a palette of paint and a packet of brushes. We add an inspirational note as well. Sometimes, we pre-sketch the canvases for younger children, so they can just color it.
Why is art important to you, and what does it bring to the unhoused population?
Access to creative expression is often overlooked, especially in communities facing economic hardship. They focus on more vocational opportunities, but it’s important to allow people to explore other outlets. Art gives people space to process, reflect and heal. It gives people a sense of agency. I found it to be a helpful creative outlet when I was younger. I think this is especially important in underserved areas where they might feel defined by their circumstances and struggles. The ability to create something meaningful can shift how they see themselves.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
It’s cool to see participants excited to paint or to hear that they haven’t created something in a while as we’re giving them that opportunity.
Once, we were doing a painting of a bike with a basket of flowers. One of the residents told us it reminded her of the last memory she has of her brother. She said painting was like therapy, and that warmed my heart. Conversations with the residents are really rewarding.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
To make an impact, you have to be consistent. You have to actually be passionate about it and find ways to keep showing up, even if you’re busy. It’s also really important to listen. For example, ask shelters what they need, rather than assume.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
When people invest their time in something they care about, they strengthen their communities in a way that creates a ripple outward. It makes more people want to volunteer and build empathy and connection with each other.
How can people reading this take steps to help the unhoused or promote art education?
You don’t need a perfect plan. What you really need is the willingness to show up and learn and collaborate with others. My general advice is to find something that genuinely matters to you, because that passion will sustain you long after that initial excitement fades.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
Everyone deserves a chance to create and have meaningful opportunities. We should recognize and address social and economic inequities and work to fill the gaps in things like access to art.
GIVING A HAND UP TO THE ENTREPRENEURS OF THE FUTURE
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Philip Meng. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Philip Meng knows what it’s like to be an aspiring entrepreneur. That’s why he wants to make it easier for other young people to become one. A 19-year-old high school senior, Philip saw just how passionate his classmates were about taking action to make changes in their communities.
But without the support system they needed to take them to the next level, the students were often left without a pathway to success. Philip realized that if he could create the framework to give each student a hand up, they could potentially become the type of entrepreneur who changes the world.
Philip started Launchpad, a global incubator for high schoolers that guides students through a six-month curriculum to build their own startup or nonprofit. Alongside venture capitalists and nonprofit leaders, Philip built an advisory board pairing them with experienced mentors from the entrepreneurial world. They present their idea in a “Shark Tank”-style pitch day, with many founders receiving seed investment and mentorship from renowned leaders. In addition to Launchpad, Philip is also the founder of The Early Founder podcast, where he interviews CEOs and other professionals to share success stories to inspire teens to change their worlds.
Launchpad has grown to 35 chapters across eight countries and nine U.S. states, and has over 30 mentors and partnerships with venture capital firms, nonprofits and other organizations. Philip is also a rising entrepreneur himself: he co-developed EnDive, a benchmark that exposes significant bias in AI models like ChatGPT for underrepresented English dialects and offers a path for more equitable systems.
As Philip prepares to head off to college and navigate the world of entrepreneurship himself, he wisely understands that by lifting others through volunteerism, he’s also creating a better future for himself. His decision to be that rising tide that lifts all boats is a strong example of how helping others ultimately creates a greater world for us all.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
I started Launchpad with my co-founder, Sophia, in ninth grade, after we kept seeing peers around us who were genuinely so passionate about solving problems in their communities, but had no real support system to act on it. We felt like there was just so much energy going to waste.
We had tried on our own some online programs and summer camps, but they were either too short or too theoretical. Nothing was focused on building something real or lasting. So we decided to create the infrastructure that we wish had existed, which is a program that takes young people seriously, gives them mentorship and helps them build something tangible, focusing on real revenue and impact.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Launchpad.
I founded these organizations four years ago, and I currently operate as the CEO or the manager. Every week, we meet at my school and I run the Launchpad Club, which is going through the curriculum and supporting students in creating startups and nonprofits, and communicating with the various chapters that we have around the world. On a typical weekly basis, we’ll end up checking in with the different chapters to make sure they’re all on track.
What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?
The core goal for these organizations has always been to increase access to entrepreneurship. Something that I’ve learned is that there are brilliant young people everywhere, not just at well-resourced schools, so I want Launchpad to reach as many of them as possible. As I graduate from high school and head to college next year, I’m hoping on scaling the organization to more schools and countries, but just as importantly, building like the leadership pipeline so the organization can thrive beyond my co-founder and me.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
I think the moments that have stuck with me the most are when I can see a tangible impact coming from my work. For example, last year, there was a student who had started in our program who was very unsure of herself. She was full of ideas, but quite anxious to talk about and share them outwardly. Six months later, after she had completed Launchpad, she was standing on stage at pitch day confidently pitching her startup idea that she’d been working on for months to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors. I think it’s that character arc from experiencing doubt to ownership that’s something that I will never get tired of seeing.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
I think one of the core things that I’ve learned is that building something meaningful or impactful really requires patience and a willingness to figure things out as you go. Nobody handed me a playbook for running or starting this organization as a high schooler, so I had to learn how to recruit, manage chapters across time zones, and ask successful people for their time, and make sure that it was worth it. One thing that I found is that people genuinely want to help you when they see that you’re passionate and giving your all, but that also means that you have to proactively step outside of what seems comfortable, reach out to people you admire, ask for help, and put yourselves in rooms you might not feel ready for. The opportunities are certainly there, but you have to go after them.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
It is so important to get involved with these causes because no one is going to solve the problems that you see better than you. When you care about something, you bring an energy and a persistence and determination that’s very hard to replicate. Getting involved doesn’t have to mean starting an organization. It can start with volunteering at a nearby service center, having a conversation or starting a project. But I think the key point is actually going out there and getting something done and executing your ideas, and not just standing idly by and watching.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
You should start before you feel ready. I started Launchpad four years ago with no guarantee that it would work. A lot of excitement and a lot of ideas, but no real idea of what it could become. The thing that had made it real was just starting it. I started by running it at my own school, learning what had worked, and then growing it from there to other schools. The key piece of advice is, don’t wait for perfection. Don’t wait for other people’s permission. Just find the problems or the gap that you see in the world, start small and let the work speak for itself.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
The key point would just be that young people are incredibly capable when they’re given even just a small amount of support and encouragement. I don’t think that the barrier for young people is actually talent or passion. It’s actually access. I also believe deeply that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful ways young people can create genuine, real impact. I hope that in the future, I can make a small dent in making that path accessible to as many students as possible.
Balancing Classes and 911 Calls: College EMT Finds Purpose
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Jonas Anderson-Joyner. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Content Warning: Points of Light is proud to share the following uplifting and inspiring story. However, we acknowledge that a small portion may be difficult for some readers. We encourage you to please care for your own well-being above all.
By day, Jonas Anderson-Joyner is a college student juggling 18 credits, homework and exams. By night, the 21-year-old is responding to 911 calls – treating cardiac arrests, responding to mental health crises and transporting patients as a volunteer EMT.
Jonas, a junior at the University of Vermont, has spent the last three years serving with UVM Rescue, a 100% student-led emergency response team. Dedicating between eight and 20 hours each week, he and other volunteers respond to medical emergencies on campus and the wider Burlington community.
What began as a curiosity during freshman orientation quickly became a defining part of his college experience and changed his vision for the future.
What inspired you to start volunteering with UVM Rescue?
I saw a flyer during freshman orientation, and it caught my eye. There were a lot of people walking by, so I was too nervous to stop and scan it. But later, someone told me more about the program, and I decided to check it out.
I came to UVM not knowing anything about CPR or emergency medicine. But after doing observation hours and seeing the station, meeting the people and watching how close-knit the team was, I immediately felt like I needed to be part of it.
We operate advanced life support level, 24/7, 365. We’re the only collegiate ambulance in the nation that is 100% student operated, so we don’t have any paid positions at all. Everyone is here because they genuinely want to be. That was what really drew me in—the idea that every person is here out of the goodness of their heart.
Jonas Anderson-Joyner poses in front of a UVM Rescue ambulance./ Courtesy Jonas Anderson-Joyner
What kinds of calls do you typically respond to?
A lot of people assume ambulances are nonstop life-or-death rescues. That’s not always the case. We do see cardiac arrests and serious trauma, but a large portion of our calls involve patient transports, mental health crises, overdoses, breathing issues or intoxicated students.
Because we serve a college campus, there’s a powerful peer-to-peer aspect. I’ve responded to suicide attempts involving students my age—people who could easily be sitting next to me in a lecture hall. Being able to look someone in the eye as a peer, not just a provider, makes a difference.
Sometimes it’s also the small things—giving someone a bandage at a sports game or simply being present so people know help is nearby.
Is there a call that stands out as especially meaningful?
One call over the summer involved a serious car accident just outside the medical center. The driver had suffered major injuries, including a broken leg with exposed bone. There were multiple emergency units on scene.
Amid the chaos—sirens, firefighters cutting open the vehicle, radios going off—I realized the patient wasn’t just in pain. He was scared.
I grabbed his hands, called him by name and focused on helping him breathe. We’re trained in psychological first aid, and in that moment, I saw it working. Even with everything happening around us, we were able to connect.
Later, after transporting him, we returned to the hospital to bring back a watch we had removed during the trauma assessment. When he saw me again, his eyes just opened up. I’d never seen anything like that. He started tearing up a bit, saying, “Oh my God. You’re the one who brought me to the hospital.” He reached out for my hands, squeezed them really tight and thanked me. That moment made me realize that this job is a very beautiful way to connect with people.
What keeps you going, especially while balancing school and night shifts?
Sometimes I look at my schedule—18 credits, teaching CPR, instructing EMT classes, volunteering dozens of hours—and think, “What am I doing?”
But it’s the little moments that keep me going. A simple “thank you.” A student feeling safe enough to call for help. Knowing we’re there when something goes wrong.
There’s something special about volunteering without a paycheck attached. When someone expresses gratitude, it feels pure. It reminds you why you’re there.
And the people in the department—the friendships, the guys at the Burlington Fire Department who feel like uncles or older brothers—they make it worth it too.
How has volunteering shaped your future plans?
I originally came to school to study forestry. Through this experience, I changed my major to Health and Society with a minor in Emergency Medical Services.
Now, I’m considering medical school. Three years ago, I never would have imagined saying that. But I’ve seen firsthand how healthcare can change someone’s life in a single moment. Why not aim to make that kind of impact long term?
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned through volunteering?
This work has taught me that tomorrow isn’t promised. When you respond to emergencies, that becomes very real. So if tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, I want to make today count by showing up and connecting with someone, even if they’re a complete stranger. No matter our differences—age, race, background—there’s always something human that connects us. Volunteering has taught me to look for that connection and to value it.
What advice would you give to someone considering volunteering?
Just try it. There’s less pressure than people think. You don’t have to commit forever—just give it a shot. And if you do volunteer, give it your all—but also take care of yourself. Service is powerful, but balance matters too.
Also, get CPR certified. You never know when you might need it.
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Inchara Gopinath. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Inchara Gopinath, a 16-year-old competitive golfer, cares deeply about the wellbeing of others. It shows in the way she represents the voices of 140,000 of her fellow students at school board meetings as the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District student advisor. It shows in the way she helped fundraise for cancer research with the Blood Cancer United Society without any type of personal connection or experience with the disease. She was simply honored to be nominated for the role by a teacher and felt strongly about the importance of the task.
Once a week for nearly seven months, it has also shown in her work with Angels and Sparrows (A&S). Inchara joined the organization as a Reading Buddy to young children with special needs and disabilities and has been helping them improve their literacy skills. She has also been named an official ambassador, imbued with the task of raising awareness about the program and reaching out to potential volunteers. A&S as a whole provides food, education and community resources to underserved communities and works with 23,000+ volunteers nationally.
As she approaches the end of her junior year in high school, she has already become a pillar of her community. Inspired, in part, by her work with A&S, Inchara hopes to pursue a career in the medical field to continue helping the people around her. as literacy development.
What inspires you to volunteer?
I really like seeing the impact that volunteering can make in society overall, especially with children. I think that they’re essential to our growth as society. Witnessing their progress really motivates me to volunteer with learning organizations, specifically. Even small moments, like a child becoming excited to read aloud or opening up about their day are meaningful indicators of progress and show how consistent encouragement can make a difference.
Inchara raises money to fund research for Blood Cancer United, a nonprofit dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers. As a “candidate,” she forms and leads a fundraising team.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Angels & Sparrows.
Once a week, for one hour, I read to 6- or 7-year-olds. Sessions consist of around 10 children and three volunteers, so I’ll be grouped with about three to four kids. I play learning-based games and talk with them about their day. The children I work with have disabilities, so their growth and learning are slower, which has also helped me with patience. It has allowed me to learn about their overall well-being and help them improve that. I create a supportive and encouraging environment that makes them comfortable learning and expressing themselves through literacy activities, reading to them or simply talking to them.
On weekends, as an ambassador, I go to events to raise awareness of A&S and the needs of kids with disabilities. We go to fairs and meet kids’ families. Being an ambassador is really just taking on the role of representing these kids. I talk to people who are interested in volunteering and encourage them to get involved. We encourage younger volunteers in particular, because it’s nice for the kids to work with somebody a little closer to their age, but currently, the other volunteers I work with are adults.
What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?
Mainly, I want to see that the children I work with gain tangible learning skills, whether it be reading or speaking skills. I want to see them able to apply those in their day-to-day lives.
What are some ways that you’ve seen your work impact these students?
I’ve seen them grow more confident in their abilities and more engaged during learning activities. When I first evaluated my kids’ literacy skills, I saw a wide range. We’ve come very far. We started with simple games like spelling and rhyming words. Now, they write their own stories. It’s been a fast progression.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
The most rewarding part has been building trust with the children. When I first met them, they were hesitant to see a new face. Volunteers also rotate a lot, so they’re not always with the same students. Meeting me was a new experience for them, and seeing them become comfortable enough to try new things, express themselves and take pride in their progress reinforces how important patience and presence are in this field.
Inchara, reading buddy and ambassador for Angels and Sparrows, works with children with disabilities to improve their literacy while bringing awareness to the organization’s mission at outreach events.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
Advocacy starts with listening. Every student’s needs are different, and progress doesn’t always look the same. Volunteering has shown me that patience, empathy and consistency are just as important as academic instruction. My work with A&S has provided me a deeper insight into the fundamentals of learning and given me ideas for ways we can improve that I’m able to share in my role as CMS student advisor.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
Volunteering allows people to directly connect with their community and understand different lived experiences. We often overlook the lives of other individuals until we actually experience them or work with those people. Volunteering is a meaningful way to support others while learning and growing personally.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
Start with a cause you genuinely care about. Volunteering doesn’t have to be overwhelming or perfectly planned. You don’t have to do everything at once. Small, consistent efforts can make a meaningful difference, especially when you show up with an open mind and a willingness to learn.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
Service is about connection and care. When children feel supported and valued, it creates opportunities for growth that extend far beyond the classroom or reading sessions.
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Shivansh Bansal. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
For Shivansh Bansal, education is not just about textbooks, but about the biological spark of human curiosity. As the founder of Project Catalyst, Shivansh has pioneered a unique approach to learning that bridges the gap between neuroscience and the classroom. By focusing on how supportive environments can shape gene-expression patterns related to memory and motivation, he’s mobilized over 150 volunteers to lead 75 workshops at prestigious venues like the Georgia Institute of Technology and various YMCAs. Shivansh believes that every student possesses potential that simply requires the right “catalyst” to unlock. And his movement has already touched the lives of 40,000 students across the United States.
Through Project Catalyst, Shivansh has overseen the distribution of 15,000 interactive books to schools in Ethiopia, Ghana and Brazil, which has saved these schools an estimated $1.2 million in educational costs. By developing free biotechnology and engineering courses consisting of over 100 lessons, he’s providing high-level intellectual tools to students who might otherwise be left behind. This global footprint has earned him a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize and a second-place finish in computational biology at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
The impact of his work is further amplified by his role as a U.S. youth ambassador to the United Nations. Beyond attending conferences, he actively shaped global policy by co-drafting UNESCO’s first youth constituency. His advocacy for science-informed learning strategies has influenced educational frameworks for over one million students worldwide. Whether speaking at the World Engineering Education Forum or the ECOSOC Youth Forum, Shivansh has become a primary voice for a generation demanding that education be both equitable and grounded in the latest scientific understanding of how humans actually learn.
Read on to hear more about how Shivansh is blending nonprofit leadership, scientific rigor and diplomatic grit to build the future of education.
Founder Shivansh Bansal and Director of Research Raman Arora pictured at the 2024 Stanford SURGExpo, representing Project Catalyst, with Forbes 30U30 honoree, Pear Chotbunwong.
Tell us about your volunteer role.
I originally started this organization that I called Project Catalyst as a way to engage students in hands-on educational concepts in biotechnology and engineering. My mom has a daycare with a couple of centers around the Bay Area, and volunteering at those centers and seeing them evolve over time helped that dream emerge. On top of that, I had a background in scientific fields like biology and this fascinating phenomenon we call neuroplasticity, where the brain can reshape itself, and this idea of epigenetics. The goal of the organization became: how can we possibly create interactive and engaging learning environments so that proper neural pathways are able to form? This idea of epigenetics comes through to help students grasp and recall information better. That became the basis of the organization, and we went from there.
Within the organization, we focus a lot on delegating tasks. Originally, it was just me and a couple of friends; we would go to a school or an event, teach our stuff and call it a day. But then it became more like a movement where students wanted to join because they were passionate about this education revolution. From there, we were able to start writing grants and getting funding. I focus on making sure everything is running smoothly in terms of funds and reaching out to partners. I have friends who are directors of outreach, and their main role is just trying to get partnerships, because through collaboration, our reach has been able to expand much more than if it was just us. We have people doing grant writing, people curating materials and people focusing on how to get resources shipped internationally. I focus on managing that and conducting research on the science we involve in our learning resources.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
We started off hosting a bunch of workshops and conducting research into scientific literature on this whole process of neuroplasticity and genetics. Then we started curating our own educational resources and materials and hosting workshops around the country. We have three main headquarters: one in California, one in Georgia and one in New Jersey. We span from there, making free resources for students on our website and having in-person workshops. From there, we partnered with organizations like the United Nations and universities like Georgia Tech. Through these partnerships, we can expand our reach internationally and around the country as well.
Tell us a little bit more about the various initiatives you’re working on.
For the workshops specifically, we focus on engaging the students in a way where they’re questioning what is happening; we find ways to pique their curiosity. If you have ever sat in a normal university or school lecture where teachers use slideshows, it often becomes boring and repetitive, and you aren’t really motivated to ask questions or get hands-on with the learning. We found that if we make our entire workshop purely experiments, while explaining the concepts being done, the students can ask questions, form their own hypotheses and try out different things. One of the main things was that they are able to fail and try again, which is really important. That helps them grasp these specific concepts and apply them in the real world and at their own schools.
For our resources, we have two main initiatives. One is the online resources where we made interactive games that cover topics in engineering and biotechnology. They are free and cover over 100 different lessons that we curated using information from college, high school and middle school textbooks. The other initiative was this interactive book that was mainly a way for us to reach international students. We saw that although we have these free resources and can host webinars, some people in Africa, for example, just don’t have the internet capabilities to take part in this education revolution. We took everything from our games and workshops and stuffed it all into one neat package called “An Engineer’s World.” It’s a textbook that we can manufacture at low-cost, and then ship to countries for free. We have been able to distribute 8,000 to 10,000 books, and that’s how we are reaching people internationally.
Beyond this, I’ve been able to take these ideas to United Nations conferences and talk about the science behind epigenetics and neuroplasticity. It is causing a paradigm shift within stakeholders where they see that this idea of science-backed education is something very important that students around the world should take part in. It’s been cool to see how I am able to pitch in for that. There is a duality between being someone who wants to improve education and being a student myself, being able to pitch my voice to these stakeholders and policymakers. That is my representation at those conferences.
Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.
We have a recurring program with the Georgia Institute of Technology; we partnered with them through Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical “Bridge to Employment” program to host workshops at Georgia Tech. Those workshops focus mainly on biotechnology. We also have recurring workshops with local YMCAs and an organization in Oakland called Girls Inc., which focuses on providing education for underserved girls in the area. We go out there quite regularly providing workshops, and on top of that, we also try to host at local libraries or county centers. We have those recurring as well.
What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?
Our main long-term goal is working with a larger institution like the United Nations to implement this idea of epigenetics and neuroscience back into the education systems of less developed countries. We feel like if these ideas are able to help students learn better, then overall it can help uplift communities out of cycles of poverty and hardship. If they can have a fair opportunity to learn, they can become successful in whatever field they want. I feel like that’s something really important, how we can uplift each other as a community and uplift the world as a whole. If everyone is given a proper chance to learn, then we can become more connected as individuals.
What have you learned through your experiences volunteering?
When you’re creating an organization that you want to make global, you’re going to see things like funding falling apart or specific partnerships not coming through. Those things are small and manageable. Bigger issues we have faced involve trying to get more people on our side. When we go to these organizations asking for partnerships or help, sometimes we are not given priority just because we are students.
It has been my mission to amplify the voices of students throughout the world. I’ve been working with diplomats at the United Nations to increase youth participation within UNESCO’s framework. It is challenging, but it has been a rewarding experience to see that as a student, if I put my mind to it, I am actually able to go out and contribute my own voice to these events.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
One of the most exciting things for me is when I see students smile and learn in front of me; they are having a great time, just being amazed by what we’re showing them. That is really heartwarming and wholesome. The other thing is being able, as a student, to contribute at such a big level where I can see how people’s lives can be changed by something I contribute – how that can actually affect communities abroad and people that I might never meet. I wanted to contribute to the world in that way; it is a big feeling of wanting to spread love and make the world a more connected place.
Students pose for a photo with their marshmallow tower moments before it collapses at one of Project Catalyst’s Alameda County district-wide events.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
I think this really comes down to how we can make a more loving world. It comes from recognizing as humans how connected we are. If one person’s smallest actions can positively influence somebody else, and we get a million people to do that, those actions ripple outwards and positivity starts spreading everywhere. If we can all work together as one world, we can address the biggest problems we face, like climate change, lack of education and poverty. If we can band together and recognize another person’s suffering as our own, we become motivated to address their problems.
As youth, we also have this unrecognized power, which is our young age. We have creative ideas and approaches. When we start recognizing that we can actually make a difference in even the smallest ways, it becomes really impactful because of the snowball effect.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
Find something that you are really interested in and just get started. When I first started volunteering, it was at an organization called Kids Against Hunger. I was originally volunteering just for the service hours, to get those checked off, but I recognized once I got there that the people were just amazing. Being around them and seeing that we were all working towards one cause was truly heartwarming. Getting involved in any way whatsoever is the basis of what we should be doing as humans; it is fulfilling to ourselves and helping others as well. If you’re really passionate about something, just get started.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
Beyond this organization, I’ve also been really passionate about research into cancer. I was intimidated as a high school student – how could I possibly contribute to this field? But it’s important to get started on something you’re passionate about because once you go through with it, you’ll realize that you’re actually capable of making such a big difference in other people’s lives. You are able to have a positive effect on the world, and that’s the legacy we should all leave: one where we’ve helped other people and done our part in creating a more connected and loving world.
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Michael Haskell. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Michael Haskell didn’t realize what he stumbled upon one day at a storage unit facility, but it soon turned into a pathway to helping others.
The high school student was offered the opportunity to look through an unclaimed storage unit. While many people come to bid on storage units that are abandoned by their owners, sometimes nobody bothers to even place a bid. When he learned that around a million cubic feet of storage contents go un-auctioned and subsequently dumped in the trash every year, Michael knew it was time to take action.
Inside that abandoned storage unit, Michael discovered a goldmine. Everything from armoires to mattresses sat in the unit, and Michael realized that charitable organizations are often desperate for larger items to outfit homes. Knowing he was onto something, Michael founded Storage Angels, an organization that clears abandoned storage lockers and donates the contents to local charities.
Michael is responsible for choosing the units that he clears out with a team of dedicated volunteers. While small lockers can take less than an hour to empty, larger ones can require two or three hours. Luckily, Michael notes that they rarely have to dump items found in the storage lockers, because the items that are worth paying to store are decent enough to keep. After clearing out the units, Michael distributes the items to worthy organizations or sells the items on eBay and donates the profits. While items can be massive pieces of furniture, they can also be smaller, like a silver necklace he sold on eBay for $100 and donated the profits to charity.
MICHAEL HASKELL IS THE FOUNDER OF STORAGE ANGELS. /COURTESY MICHAEL HASKELL
Michael’s endeavor has been incredibly worthwhile: Since starting Storage Angels in his sophomore year of high school, the organization has cleared over 20 lockers and donated an estimated $20,000 worth of furniture and household items to worthwhile organizations. They’ve also donated 700 pounds of gently-used clothing. While Michael has a busy high school course load to carry, he doesn’t view his volunteering responsibility as a burden because he simply enjoys helping others that much. His passion for empowering those who need a hand up is a powerful example of how volunteerism can change lives.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
I think what inspired me was being at a locker facility one day and seeing the contents of a locker that would have otherwise gone into the trash being offered to me to look through. Seeing all of this stuff that would have otherwise been discarded in that locker– specifically in that one, I saw a lot of mattresses. I saw an armoire, a beautiful couch and smaller stuff. There were vintage toys from the fifties. All of this stuff would have been discarded because the locker facility usually contracts with a removal company to dump this all into the trash. Seeing all that stuff go to waste upset me a little bit, because it showed me that there are a lot of these lockers that don’t sell, and are going to go for zero dollars and have all that stuff thrown out. I really saw that as a way in which I could make a big impact by giving away the stuff in these lockers to charity that would have otherwise been thrown out.
What inspires you to volunteer?
The rewarding part of volunteering for me is getting together with other volunteers and collectively making an impact. Specifically with Storage Angels, it’s the feeling of going to a locker facility, seeing the mystery in this unsold locker, seeing if we can find really good stuff for charities, and having a lot of fun with volunteers and making a really big impact together. I think that’s really powerful, and that’s really what keeps me coming back to these lockers.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Storage Angels.
There are lots of responsibilities. I’m in charge of picking out the lockers that we’re going to clear out, gathering the volunteers who are able to come to the facility and clear out the locker and getting the trucks together to go there. Finally, I’m in charge of the sorting at the locker facility, and going to either a donation facility, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, or, for items that we think are better sold on eBay, having the cash donated. I would then take those items home, list them on eBay and then donate the cash.
What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?
The long-term goal is just continuing to expand. Seeing what we’ve done already, we’ve made a very big impact. We’ve already donated $1,000 to Habitat for Humanity. We’ve donated an estimated tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of furniture to these charities. I think it’s just continuing to make that impact and not stopping, no matter what.
STORAGE ANGELS FOUNDER MICHAEL HASKELL (RIGHT) CARRY A MICROWAVE OUT OF A STORAGE UNIT SO IT CAN BE DONATED TO A WORTHY ORGANIZATION. /COURTESY MICHAEL HASKELL
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
I think the most rewarding part is at the end of the day, seeing that cleared locker and knowing that my volunteers and I made a big impact on that specific day. I think that that’s just a nice feeling. Seeing it in person after all that hard work, and getting rewarded with that feeling.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
I think one of the best things I’ve learned is the power of getting multiple people in a space together and seeing the amazing stuff we could do. Clearing out these huge storage lockers in a relatively short period of time and making that big impact in a relatively short period of time. I think that’s kind of my biggest thing that I’ve learned–that multiple people can come together and do amazing things.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
I would say that you don’t need to know where you’re going immediately. You just need to keep pushing along and doing something that you love doing. If you do that, you will definitely be able to make a large impact in your community. Not specifically knowing from the start, but just trying to make an impact. Every single day is really what’s going to lead to large successes and being able to make that impact.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
Having a passion for something, you’re able to do amazing things in the end. You’re able to donate thousands of dollars in furniture and cash to local charities. I think that if you just continue to persevere, no matter what, you will eventually be successful. You’ll be able to make a big impact on your community.
Teen Founder Gives Discarded School Supplies a Second Life
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Grace Millard. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
When Grace Millard walked the halls of her Connecticut high school as a 14-year-old freshman, she noticed something that didn’t sit right with her: abandoned pencils, half-used notebooks and art supplies tossed aside in classrooms and cafeterias. At the same time, she knew that just a few counties away, schools and community centers were fundraising for basic materials their students couldn’t afford.
That disconnect sparked an idea. What if the excess in one community could become opportunity in another?
Together with her classmate and co-founder Jordan Chen, Grace launched Restoring Rainbows, a youth-led nonprofit that collects used school supplies, restores them and redistributes them to communities with limited resources. Two years later, at just 16 years old, Grace serves as co-CEO of an organization with more than 200 branches across 52 countries, powered by a network of 1,000 teen volunteers who have kept tens of thousands of restored supplies out of landfills and placed into the hands of children who need them most.
What inspired you to co-found Restoring Rainbows?
I’ve always grown up volunteering. My family has been very involved in our church, and from a young age I participated in food drives, clothing donations and community service projects. Even as a kid, I remember going to the grocery store with my parents and choosing items specifically to donate.
When I started high school, my co-founder and I connected over things that we were passionate about—art, sustainability and climate change. We noticed how many school supplies were being thrown away in our own school, while a few counties away, there were rec centers and school districts campaigning for more art supplies. So through exploring that and researching what it takes to run a nonprofit, we established Restoring Rainbows in 2023.
Grace Millard Donating Markers to Yale New Haven Health Donation] Grace Millard donates books and art supplies to a hospital in New Haven, Connecticut./ Courtesy Grace Millard
What does a typical donation and restoration process look like?
In our local community, we primarily collect supplies through donation boxes placed in museums, galleries and other public spaces. That allows people to donate easily and helps spread awareness.
Once supplies are collected, my co-founder and I do most of the restoration ourselves. We’ve been doing this for two years, so we have a lot of experience. We clean, repair and prepare each item so it’s ready to be used again, then distribute them to schools, after-school programs and community centers that need them most.
Do you have a favorite item to restore?
Definitely books. They’re very nostalgic for me. When restoring them, I’ll see familiar characters or handwritten names and doodles left behind by another child. It’s incredibly touching to know how loved those books once were.
We remove personal information for privacy, but I love knowing that a book that once brought joy to one child will now do the same for another. It feels like passing along a piece of wonder.
How did you build the organization from a small local project to an international nonprofit?
We started very small. We sent cold emails—about 30 at first—to local museums, schools, libraries and art galleries asking if we could set up donation bins. Once we collected our first supplies, we began restoring them ourselves, cleaning pencils, rebinding books and repairing materials so they could be reused.
After about six months, we started sharing our work on social media. That changed everything. Teens from all over the world began reaching out, asking how they could get involved. We created a branch program with digital guides, workbooks and video tutorials so young people could replicate what we were doing in their own communities. Social media really showed us how powerful connection can be when people our age want to come together to help others and reduce waste.
Why is art such an important part of your mission?
Art has a unique power to connect people. As a biracial person who is Korean and American, I’ve seen how creativity can bridge gaps in language and culture. Art helps children express emotions they might not yet have words for, and it builds confidence, empathy and joy. There’s nothing like watching a child light up—not just because they received supplies, but because they’re proud of what they can create with them.
What has been the most rewarding part of your work so far?
Seeing the impact on people. I love scrolling through social media and seeing photos and videos from places like El Salvador to India of children receiving supplies, volunteers setting up donation boxes with Restoring Rainbows written on them.
Restoring Rainbows is completely youth-led, and that’s incredibly powerful. Young people are often underestimated, but seeing teenagers around the world show up for their communities gives me so much hope for the future.
What are your long-term goals for Restoring Rainbows?
We want to continue expanding awareness so people know there are alternatives to throwing supplies away. Education around sustainability is just as important as donation numbers.
In terms of impact, we’re aiming to reach 100,000 school supplies donated by the end of this year and we’re on track to surpass that. More than anything, I want the organization to keep growing in ways that stay rooted in people and community.
How do you balance running a nonprofit with being a high school student?
Restoring Rainbows isn’t a phase or a hobby—it’s a passion. When you really believe in something, you find time for it. Whether it’s restoring supplies, attending Zoom meetings or answering emails, it feels meaningful because I know the impact it has.
I plan to continue working with Restoring Rainbows through college and beyond. And if there’s ever a time when I step back from leadership, we have plans in place to ensure the mission continues with capable, passionate young leaders.
What do you hope people take away from your story?
I hope people realize that if you have a passion or an idea, you shouldn’t wait until you feel “ready.” Fear of failure, judgment or being too young can hold people back, but there will never be a perfect time to start.
If you see a need and feel called to act, take that leap. You don’t have to have everything figured out to make a difference.
Volunteer Goes Beyond the Stacks for Her Local Library
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Dharini Selvakumar. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
In 2023, Dharini Selvakumar joined the Carmel Clay Public Library with a quiet determination to get involved through volunteering, a commitment that has since blossomed into over 500 hours of selfless service. Her presence is felt in every corner of the building, from the meticulous organization of Mission Merchandising in the Youth Services Department to the careful stewardship of the library’s seed collection. Whether she is cleaning shelves, setting up for large events or reviewing books to help members find their next great read, Dharini approaches every task with a level of care that ensures the library remains a welcoming sanctuary for the community.
Dharini’s impact soared with the creation of her signature “Coding with Curiosity” workshops. Recognizing a need for accessible tech education, she designed and hosted a series of sessions over three consecutive Saturday mornings in December. These workshops were masterfully executed, showcasing her ability to translate complex concepts into engaging lessons. They also helped foster an environment where young learners felt empowered to explore digital frontiers.
Beyond her technical skills, Dharini is a vital voice in the Teen Library Council, where she collaborates with her peers to brainstorm improvements that enhance the library experience for everyone. Her maturity is a frequent point of praise among the staff, who note her unique ability to bridge generational gaps. While working alongside adults, mentoring fellow teens and guiding young children, Dharini navigates every interaction with a friendly demeanor and a professional poise.
Dharini has become an essential role model and a pillar of the Carmel Clay Public Library community. Her blend of technical expertise, organizational diligence and genuine kindness has left a significant mark on the institution. Read on to her more of her story.
Dharini at one of her signature “Coding with Curiosity” workshops.
Tell us about your volunteer role.
At the library, they don’t really have one set role. It’s more like a series of activities that I like, and whichever one we have time for, we go and do it. I really love writing the reviews for the library. There are so many books there, and many people don’t get the time to see which ones they want to pick. As volunteers, we read them—especially if they were published within the last two years—and then we provide handwritten or online reviews. If the review is good, the library publishes it on their website, and then people will read it to pick out their books. This is very impactful from my perspective, because when I’m looking for books, I don’t always have time to read every summary. Instead, I read a review that a volunteer wrote, and usually, the reviews are pretty accurate.
I also do a lot of in-person volunteering, such as shelf straightening, dusting, cleaning and setting up for events. I have conducted some events myself for kids in elementary and middle school. I taught them things like drawing and math, at no cost, and that was a great experience. I also volunteer in the lab area for kids where I help them and talk to many people. I have a lot of interaction with the guests who come to the library, updating them on the new kits available. I do many things around the library—small tasks that help it run.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
When I was in middle school, they told me at school that there was an opportunity for volunteering at the library. I really love reading and writing, and the library was one of the places I used to go to a lot. I decided to start there, and I ended up loving it. I’m still doing it, and I hope to keep doing it for a long time.
Which programs at the library are you most excited about?
Right now, I am on winter break from school. During the winter, the library conducts many reading programs with prizes and challenges. I have finished some of their challenges, such as the goal to read 100 books before graduating high school to earn a gift basket. I get really excited about those. There are also reading programs where you read and participate in activities, and there is a lot of social interaction during those events.
I’m also part of the Teen Library Council, a council where we plan what events we host at the library. I am always excited to go to those meetings because I get to interact with people who are like-minded. I enjoy being involved in the planning process for the people who come in. When I am actually at the event, I see so many people who are participating in what we planned, and it’s really fun.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
Mostly, I really love how much social interaction I have. Looking toward my career when I am older and go to college, I want to become a doctor—specifically a cardiologist—and that involves a lot of interaction with people. I love talking to new people and making connections. I have met many people outside of the library that I have talked to before, and now I have many connections that I can reach out to. It’s just about helping people. There are so many little kids who come to the library, and every time I help them, they become happy. I feel good that I can help them.
What have you learned through your experiences volunteering?
I used to be introverted. Now I am really extroverted, but when I was introverted, I just didn’t talk to a lot of people. Over my time at the library, I realized that you can’t really reach out or make connections with people if you don’t go out to them first; most people just don’t come up to you to build that connection. If you want it, you are the one who has to go and attempt to make that connection.
Once I started willingly going up to people first and just talking to them, I started realizing that so many people—even those who don’t look the part—are actually interested in talking to you. Even if you are not related to them, they just want to have a conversation. It is not always about something super important; they just like talking to other people willingly, without having a hidden motive. I have grown my social skills so much through that, and now it is really helping me in other programs and things that I do.
Why is it important for others, especially youth, to get involved with causes they care about?
Number one, when you become older, you’re going to have less time. Let’s be real; we all have so much going on, and even in high school, I don’t really have that much time. So I would recommend you start volunteering in middle school, because the more you get used to the environment you care about, the more you understand that this can be really impactful and helpful.
Through volunteering, you’re also able to realize your passions and know what you really want to do in the future. It’s important to help the community and all of the things that have helped you. The younger you are when you start, the more you get to learn and build your skills. It is not just social skills, but also communication and interpersonal soft skills that school or an office wouldn’t necessarily teach you. These are experience-based skills that you wouldn’t get otherwise if you don’t volunteer young. Then, you can build on those.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
While it is good to care about your applications, volunteering is something you have to do wholeheartedly—it should be something you want to do, not just for service hours. Definitely volunteer where you want to be and, in an environment where you are comfortable and can build your passion. Do something that interests you.
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Daniel Wu. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
In 2024, 17-year-old Daniel Wu started Humanity Hyde Park, a school club designed to address food insecurity in Chicago. Access is often affected by policy, and he aims to help the people left behind while advocating for change. Each Saturday, he brings 20 to 25 student volunteers to the Hyde Park-Kenwood Food Pantry, and he’s donated more than 80,000 pounds of fresh groceries through his organization. He even started a monthly newsletter where he writes about food access, culture and health.
But Daniel’s interest in food doesn’t stop there. Near the end of the pandemic lockdown, his passion for baking led him to launch a small-batch bakery and donate a portion of the profits.
Recognizing the daily effects of policy, he also encourages civic engagement through his criminal law and policy program designed to empower diverse students to entertain careers in law and government. Daniel developed the curriculum with educators and attorneys and has now taught more than 70 students. This fall, he plans to pursue a degree in public policy.
What inspires you to volunteer?
Initially, it was my school service requirements. We’re required to do 30 to 40 hours in order to graduate. During my sophomore year, I was volunteering at Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, an afterschool program for kids, as well as at food pantries and a place called Plant Chicago. I really enjoyed it.
Also, my grandparents experienced famine and social movements like the Cultural Revolution when they lived in China. I’ve seen how that trauma was passed down through generations. It impacted their relationship with food and the government. I live on Chicago’s South Side, a historically redlined community, which had a big impact on food access. And I love to cook, something not everyone has access to.
Daniel (left) and his co-president assemble meals to donate to the Love Fridge.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Humanity Hyde Park and beyond.
We do “Service Saturdays” where my co-president and I bring a group of volunteers to the food pantry. We’ll sort through donations and walk our neighbors around who are receiving food or pass it out ourselves. We also donate when we can.
We work with The Love Fridge, a group that sets up community fridges around Chicago. They’ve asked us to help repaint the one we help stock. We do fundraisers like bake sales and GoFundMe’s for money to buy ingredients to make packed lunches–250+ for The Love Fridge. Recently, we raised around $350, which we’re planning to use to make and serve hot meals at the Night Ministry, a shelter for unhoused people. I also organize engagement events like hosting a booth at the Wicker Park Farmers’ Market. And I designed and currently run our website and social media.
Outside of HPH, I run a small-batch bakery. I sell cookies and donate 15% of the proceeds to the Food Research and Action Center. They’re focused on food policy research, which is what I want to do in college. With each order, I send a pamphlet about food access and how to get involved.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
One of the things that really stuck out at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club—especially with all the government cuts—was how consistent the educators were in making sure the kids were fed, maybe even paying out-of-pocket to do so. Sometimes, it was one of the only meals the kids would eat all day.
There wasn’t an organization at my school dedicated to food security or access at the time. It impacts 12 to 13 million Americans, even a block away from us, and I wanted to do something about it.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
Everyone is amazing. Once, at the food pantry, I was walking around with one of our Nigerian neighbors receiving food who didn’t speak much English. I don’t know much about Nigerian cuisine, but I know about fufu and egusi. So, when we got to a table with cassava, one of the ingredients for both, I pointed at it and said the names of the dishes. He got really excited and gave me a hug, lifting me in the air. He and his wife asked for my phone number and if I could come over for dinner one day.
You get to meet and talk to some really kind and funny people. That’s been my favorite part of volunteering.
Is there something that people should know about food insecurity that might not be common knowledge?
People sometimes misunderstand what food insecurity is. Food insecurity can manifest in many forms. It’s not just about not having access to food but not having access to nutritional food. That’s a big problem in food deserts.
In Garfield Park, for example, the only big supermarket, one that prioritizes quality at low prices, has been closed. The City shut it down to build a big new complex that was supposed to have a grocery store in it, but the plan hasn’t come to fruition.
It’s left residents in the area without a way to access nutritious and clean food.
So, what do you do? You end up going to nearby fast-food chains. You don’t eat healthy, because it’s not accessible or affordable anymore. You have to spend more time, money and energy finding a grocery store further away. That’s an example of a policy move that’s detrimental to food access and public health.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
They tell you in kindergarten to treat other people the way you want to be treated, but somehow, we keep forgetting. Through volunteering, I’ve been able to meet and talk with many people from different walks of life. Often, we become so desensitized to things that we begin to lose empathy. We begin to think food insecurity and other inequalities just happen. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Having empathy, especially right now, is really important. If more people volunteered and really tried to engage with their community, they could build that skill.
Inchara, reading buddy and ambassador for Angels and Sparrows, works with children with disabilities to improve their literacy while bringing awareness to the organization’s mission at outreach events.
