What makes our Summer Meal sites stand apart? Well, many things: our healthy food, free meal for parents, many youth and kids activities with the help of partner organizations, and above all, our wonderful team of AmeriCorps VISTA members from United Way of King County. Meet our 2015 team: Danielle, Jacque, Jimmy, Kiyomi, and Olivia. Every day they are out at our five meal sites. When they are not serving food and coordinating activities with the kids and youth at their sites, they are busy preparing meals, cleaning up, doing outreach, planning for activities at their sites and more. Thanks for making it all happen and always with a smile!

Our amazing AmeriCorps VISTA Team for Summer Meals 2015

Danielle is a recent graduate from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She earned her degree in Philosophy with a focus on environmental ethics and sustainability. Her passion for travel and cultural awareness has brought her to a variety of places throughout the world, including several months in Costa Rica and India where she studied sustainable development. As an AmeriCorps Summer Vista she looks forward to working with the people of Seattle to end summer hunger and reduce summer learning loss.

Jacque is going to be a junior at the University of Washington in the Fall. She worked at HIP last summer as an intern from United Way, and loved it so much that she decided to come back!

Jimmy is a student at the University of Washington studying International Relations with a Concentration in East Asia. Some of his hobbies are playing basketball, video games, and watching the food channel. He first started wanting to intern for United Way and HIP because he wanted to give back to the community in which he cames from.

Kiyomi is a recent graduate from the Anthropology department at UW and soon to be AmeriCorps member with World Relief down in Kent. She was attracted to this program because it seeks to reach kids and families that may be struggling in life. So far, she has absolutely loved it and is excited to be here this summer!

Olivia is a senior at the University of Washington studying Community Environment and Planning in the College of the Built Environments with a focus on urban social justice, and is minoring in Geography. She is passionate about a variety of social issues such as affordable housing, racial and gender equality, and LGTBQ rights. In her free time she enjoys hiking, music, and food.