Written by Tara McIntosh and Amelie Goacher

The admirable participants of the Community Engagement Fellowship Program presented their projects on September 27 at the symposium held in their honour. Paving the way towards economic and social equality, each member engaged in a unique project addressing a large variety of the issues faced in our communities. Their commitment to these projects produced real change in the lives of many who are often overlooked.

 This fellowship produced diverse and wide-reaching projects, and each student that participated showed purpose, ingenuity, and kindness. From the establishment of hydroponic systems for self-sustaining meal support to an enriching cultural ‘road trip’ tour of America, the contributions made were praised by Director of Public Purpose Rebecca Drago. Drago credits the students with doing the “hard work in terms of creating the symposium event”, and mentions the commitment of the two keynote speakers, especially how they “prepare for that and write a speech that contains their reflections of the entire experience”. Her highlight of the evening was “watching everyone come together with their trifolds and watching everyone’s reactions to it.”. Drago is able to reflect on the responses to the projects because those who walk around “come to me and just gush about it, and they talk about how incredible it is, how the different projects are doing really good work in the world, how they are so creative, and so I just have these fun conversations all night.” For students, the fellowship and symposium are good opportunities to “have a really good experience on the ground with a community partner. Every single one of these students experienced challenges throughout the summer, and so being able to pivot, go with the flow, and adjust their project is a really important experience.” Drago also mentions the contributions of “Ms. Mckenna and Ms. Bell, who are the co-directors and so amazing and supportive of the students; Mr. Rivera, who has been involved in the past; and Mr. Morgan, who is always supportive and comes to visit some of the projects each year.”

Through their fellowship projects, the students crafted different projects that addressed issues they felt passionate about. To reduce the inequity of food insecurity,  Colin Kinsley’s ‘24 partnership with Meals on Main Street enabled low-income households to have access to fresh produce. Colin’s project will have a long-lasting impact on the community due to its streamlined design which makes it easy to accommodate in small support centres, meaning it could be installed on a larger scale. At the same time, participants Isa Pierry ‘25 and Kiera Zheng ‘25, among others, were able to help children develop their education. Working alongside Family and Children’s Agency Aspire, Zheng helped to culturally enrich children from Meriden, Connecticut, who have typically received a disproportionately low level of exposure to different cultures, despite the diversity of the district. Pierry taught History of Art to children at the Don Bosco Center, many of whom had never been introduced to it before. Both of these contributions to each of these communities demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of this fellowship on our community.

 The fellowship allows students to enrich their communities with whatever they are passionate about. Whoever it might benefit, there are always opportunities to help those under-resourced. Moreover, as the fellows of this year would surely agree, working within a community is incredibly rewarding, and the bonds many of the students made will long outlast their contributions this summer. The fantastic effort to enrich, support, and empower the community this year now acts as a source of inspiration. Whatever the contribution, be it donations, funding, or time, every day is an opportunity to help another person, family, or community. As shown by these fellows, kindness is the first step in combating injustice.