We are featuring a new series of “diary” posts from our Kogod Graduate Student Ambassadors, bringing you a first-person view of life as a Kogod graduate student. Our fifth entry by Ani Khachikian (Kogod/MBA ’21) is about her experience giving back to the DC community through her involvement in Kogod student organizations.
Kogod Women in Business (KWIB) and Net Impact at Kogod share similar values of providing social good through leadership. Both organizations put together monthly panels and social events that educate and bring together our communities. As an executive board member of both clubs, I suggested that we collaborate for the month of November. With Thanksgiving around the corner, the VP of event planning for KWIB, Chiara Cooper, coordinated with Bread for the City in order for executive board members to volunteer for their food pantry initiative.Bread for the City is a front-line agency that serves the underprivileged communities in Washington, DC, by offering them services including food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services. Their mission is to seek justice through community organizing. This was the perfect fit for both organizations! Bread for the City’s nutritional support program provides healthy groceries, including fresh fruits, veggies, and meats to more than 8,400 families in need.
My colleagues and I were humbled to volunteer for their food delivery program. The regular volunteers had already started the bagging process when we arrived at 9 a.m. We helped assemble and fill hundreds of bags with fresh produce offered from local farmers markets. These bags were later delivered to the families by the delivery service. As we handed out the groceries to those waiting in long lines, we reflected on the situations of some of these people. Fresh produce is just a grocery run away for us, but a privilege to those in need. Those who don’t have the means to buy fresh food rely on organizations like Bread for the City.
It’s an honor to know that a couple of hours of my day can help put food on the table for hundreds of families. We all ended the service with a warm feeling inside and the desire to keep coming back to help.