This summer, HIP received a high school intern from Teens In Public Service (TIPS) to help out with our Summer Eats program. In this reflection, intern Ryan Phi tells us about his summer with HIP.
As cliche as it may sound, my time as an intern at HIP was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Although community service and outreach have never been foreign to me, HIP truly allowed me to be in an environment where I felt valued, honored, and energized to do everything that I could to help make an impact in the community around me.
From my first day at HIP, I could sense how incredibly passionate and driven its staff was to help alleviate food insecurity in North King County through nutritious meals, educational programs, and advocacy. That sense of drive and desire for change continually stuck with me throughout my internship and pushed me to work as hard as I could on every project I was a part of.
My role at HIP
In my role as an intern, I was tasked with working alongside HIP’s Summer Eats program. This program aims to deliver nutritious meals to sites around North Seattle and Shoreline to prevent families who rely on free and reduced school lunches from being left behind during the summer months.
In particular, I was in charge of putting together educational activities at meal sites to help prevent kids from experiencing academic learning loss during the summer months. Although I had never worked extensively with kids before and knew it would be challenging, I knew that the staff at HIP were behind me. Every person I interacted with throughout my internship at HIP was never anything short of enthusiastic and excited to hear about every one of my ideas.
As a result, as my internship comes to an end, I have to say that my only regret is that I do not have more time at HIP. Even so, I am extraordinarily grateful for this experience, and can honestly say that my time at HIP will stick with me for a lifetime. It has opened doors for me that I never thought were possible, and ones that I hope will never close. Most of all though, I will continue to play an active role in my community whether it be as a community advocate, or as simply a member of it thanks to my extraordinary time at HIP.
Ryan was HIP’s 2021 Summer Eats intern from Teens In Public Service. He is passionate about community outreach and volunteering, and is a rising senior at Mariner High School in Everett, Washington.
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