Page 30 - Tennessee Teen Volunteer Judge's Book 2022

Over the years I have participated in food drives in both my community and in my school. I have personally donated to associations including the Mid-South Food Bank and Orange Haven Food Drive. Twice a month I bring non-perishable cans of soup, tuna, meat and per the children’s request, peanut butter. Recently, I’ve been led to facilitate a large food drive at my high school and I’m looking forward to growing these drives to neighboring high schools. By encouraging other students my age to start their own drives at their school, we can increase our impact. We can work together to make our community a better place. My next action is starting an online money drive. Feeding America released an article that with a donation of $1 they can make 10 meals. I am starting a fundraiser that will continue through the summer which will feed hungry kids who can’t rely on school anymore.
What inspired you to first become involved in your platform?
After touring some underprivileged elementary schools on a school mission trip, I was keenly aware of the many needs of the children attending this school. While talking to some of the teachers, I realized that the school provided some of the children's only meal for that day. Teachers explained that the students were still lacking in food on a daily basis, especially on the weekends. The teachers also attributed the students behavioral issues and inability to focus on their studies to lack of food at home. It was an eye opening experience for me, and it weighed on my conscious leading my to complete research on the topic. In Tennessee, 905,090 people face hunger, and 237,100 of those are children. 1 in 6 children face hunger. Growing up not worrying about where my next meal came from, it was hard for me to put myself in their shoes. This has fueled my passion for working towards the elimination of childhood hunger. I want other children to have the privilege to not worry about where their next meal will come from too.
If you are selected as the winner, how would you mobilize and market your platform nationally?
Regionally, I’ve been working with Mid-South Food Bank, and I wish to expand my work to Second Harvest Food Bank, which is a national organization. In order to structure a plan to support the greatest food needs of children in Tennessee, I have come up with three points of action. The first point is to start more food drives in communities across Tennessee and make them more accessible to donate. I started a food drive at my school, but I want to expand to other schools in Memphis, along with my new connection to Dekalb Country. I will pair up with local news channels to help advertise a citywide food drive. By gaining the state title, I would be given the opportunity to open food drives in major cities other than Memphis such as, Nashville, Jackson, Knoxville, and Murfreesboro. Currently I use Warehouse 67, my mother’s furniture store as a drop off location of drives. If given the title, I can open up pop-up donation drop-offs that travel across Tennessee. Secondly, I will help raise money to provide food that can be distributed to schools, helping bridge the gap between school days when food is given out and weekends when school provided lunches are not available. Lastly, I want to create a goodie bag of food and other necessities that can be given out to the most food deprived children in rural areas. As we all try to navigate through Covid, let’s not forget our most vulnerable citizens, our youth.
How would you utilize social media in order to positively further your position as a titleholder if you are selected as the winner?
I will strategically use social media to not only promote my programs, but also spread the message about childhood hunger. Social Media is a very important tool that I plan on utilizing. I would target young teens like myself to rally together and join in on the effort beside me. Financial contributions are important but so is the volunteering. It is a long road ahead of us to eliminate childhood hunger, but with gained supporters and helpers to the cause we can all help end hunger child by child. Social media would not only help with my personal platform, but I would also use it to share the things the volunteer system stands for. By posting mission statements, personal experiences, and everything in between, I would be able to encourage other girls to compete in our system in the future. I am one person and I can work towards my goal,