2024 Graduating Seniors and Blessings Volunteers
Blessings in a Backpack is very grateful for all our incredible high school volunteers nationwide. These students have stuffed backpacks, delivered food, created note cards, and shown admirable leadership in their communities. We want to take a moment to honor a particular group of high school volunteers: the class of 2024 graduating seniors!
Ellie Brady
Ellie has served as president of the Blessings in a Backpack program in Forsyth County Georgia. She shops and coordinates Blessings packing events. She has completed over a thousand hours of Community service for Blessings and other charity work during her junior and senior years in high school. Ellie is headed to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Emma Jackson
Emma volunteers with the Bayou City Blessings program in Houston, Texas. She helps at packing events, arriving early to set out food for volunteers to pack. Emma plans to continue her education this fall.
“Through the National Honor Society, I was given choices of where to volunteer my time. I chose Bayou City Blessings to be part of helping food-insecure children in my community.”
Emma Mitchell
Emma volunteers with the Bayou City Blessings program in Houston as part of her work with the National Honor Society at Stratford High School. Emma helps coordinate packing events and also helps write inspirational note cards for Blessings recipients. Emma will attend the University of Oklahoma this fall.
Jack Nieman
After volunteering with Blessings at his local grade school, Jack and two other students raised over $25,000 through the Chicago DIY5K program during their four years in high school. Jack and a team from St. Ignatius High School in Chicago, hold monthly packing events at home or with school organizations and deliver weekend meals to kids living in the Cabrini Row homes. Jack will attend Davidson College in North Carolina this fall.
“I am so grateful to be a part of the Blessings in a Backpack community! Through my volunteer work with the Cabrini program, I am able to support my neighbors and foster a sense of belonging and unity. By breaking down barriers and strengthening the bonds that weave our communities together, I help in creating a more equitable and just society.”
Caroline White
Caroline volunteers with the Blessings in a Backpack program in Shelbyville, IL, and regularly helps at packing events. This fall, she will attend Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.
“My parents have been part of the leadership team since the program started 10 years ago. I enjoyed becoming part of the program. I had always cared about those in need, and this was my opportunity to be a part of the solution.”
Zack Zulewski
Zack volunteers in Grand Ledge, Michigan. He held personal fundraisers for the Blessings program, packed food bags, and delivered food bins to local schools. Zack is headed to college at either Michigan State University or the University of Wisconsin.
“I drop everything when a school secretary calls asking me to deliver a bag of food for a student. A critical need like this deserves an immediate response. Fighting food insecurity is an issue I share with Blessings in a Backpack.”