Connecting with Local Students

In August, I had the pleasure of presenting about God’s Love We Deliver to 14 high school students partaking in a summer program at the NYC Department of Education’s Genovesi Environmental Study Center (ESC). The ESC, a 7,000 square foot learning facility in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, is home to over 200 living organisms and sits on over an acre of land with a pond habitat, urban farm, garden, and a greenhouse with a hydroponic and aquaponic laboratory. During the school year the ESC hosts field trips for all grades to do hands-on environmental science and STEM lessons. Over the summer, the ESC hosts high school students who are selected after initial applications and interviews to work the farm, care for the animals, and do other science lessons. Each week the summer program hosts a guest speaker so the students can learn about different career paths. In the past some of the guest speakers included a beekeeper, veterinarian, an attorney specializing in environmental justice, and a wildlife inspector from US Fish and Wildlife.

During my hour and a half with the students, I talked about the mission of God’s Love, who we serve, how our organization has changed over time, and the services we provide beyond medically tailored meals (birthday cakes, Thanksgiving, Winter Feast, and shelf stable meals). As a volunteer coordinator at God’s Love, I give orientations about our mission and organization every day to new volunteers. I always ensure to emphasize that though God is in our title, we are a nonsectarian organization. Before I explained our founding background to the students, I asked them a question about why they think “God” is in our title even though we are nonsectarian. The only hint I gave was that God’s Love was founded in the 1980s in NYC. The students talked amongst themselves for a few minutes and then we had a great group discussion about how associating God and people living with HIV/AIDS was a powerful connection to go against the stigmas at that time against gay people and people living with HIV/AIDS.

The students brainstormed all the different jobs and departments that exist at God’s Love to successfully feed over 16,000 people a year with over 4.3 million meals. The students correctly identified nearly every department that we have here at God’s Love, from our porter and maintenance staff to our fundraisers. I also asked them what kind of services people with serious illness may need or want to have a better life beyond the ones that we provide. Some of their ideas included “company for our clients to not have to eat alone” and a “wish list for certain foods or recipes.”

To cap off my visit with a fun and creative activity, the students made birthday cards for our clients with some of their beautiful scrapbook material. I was so grateful for the opportunity to talk about our life-sustaining work and connect with local students about the many options they have for fulfilling future careers. A special thank you to the ESC staff for the delicious honey and cherry tomatoes they gave me that are grown on site.