From donation sorting, assisting with events, or helping us move into our new building, Crossroads for Women is so grateful for the number of volunteers that have helped us over the years. We have been very fortunate to be able to partner with schools across the city to get students involved in giving back. We want to say a big thank you to one volunteer who has been in the Crossroads realm since she was a kid.
Izzy Campbell got involved with Crossroads at the age of 7 when she was in the girl scouts. She helped with Crossroads Easter parties, filling and handing out Easter baskets, and eventually started helping with summer barbeque events. Izzy officially became a volunteer during her senior year at Amy Biehl High School. As part of her senior project, she would come in two times a week and help with donation sorting, working the front desk, and any other miscellaneous tasks that were needed at Crossroads.
“We only needed 100 hours to get credit, but I ended up getting over 120 hours because I enjoyed volunteering so much,” Izzy said. When asked if Izzy would recommend volunteering at Crossroads to fellow high school students she said, ” I totally would. Crossroads was an amazing experience for me. Every member of the staff was welcoming and made me feel at home. It was also a good work experience and helped me gain some valuable skills that I need for college and the workforce.” Izzy rates her experience extremely positive as she made many friends and always looked forward to coming in every Monday and Friday. As for what she learned as a volunteer for Crossroads, “I think I really learned about my privilege as someone who’s never been or had someone in the prison system,” she adds with a laugh, “I also gained some serious folding skills from all of the donated clothes I folded.”
We are incredibly appreciative of the time and dedication Izzy has continued to give to Crossroads.
Crossroads for Women has partnered with Amy Biehl High School over the last year to be both a site for students to participate in individual service learning and group service activities.
On the individual level, students like Izzy sign up before the beginning of their senior year to participate in 100 hours of service as part of their curriculum. After reaching out to a site like Crossroads and forming that agreement, they then develop a schedule for the school year. The students come weekly according to their scheduled times and work on a variety of projects including sorting donations and putting them away, maintaining donation spaces, helping with the front desk, and helping set up and run special events.
On the group level, Amy Biehl sends school groups frequently during the school year to help with bigger projects at Crossroads for Women. Some of these projects include sorting through donations and re-organizing the donation spaces, and moving the donation spaces to their new, permanent home in the Butterfly Boutique.
For more information on how your high school can partner with Crossroads for Women, please contact Elise Pippin at (505) 228-0807.