Meet Caitlin. A student at The Blake School in Hopkins, 13-year-old Caitlin is one of MATTER’s young volunteers with an inspirational volunteer story. Back in 2020, Caitlin began participating in an optional Service Pathway program through her school that encourages students to volunteer during their free time. This inspired her whole family to volunteer. They bought a couple MATTERbox Volunteer Kits and packed healthy snack packs in their home for people who were suffering during the pandemic. Caitlin enjoyed the experience so much she took on the challenge of raising money to buy her own kits. Over the course of a year, Caitlin raised enough money to purchase ten Volunteer Kits and pack 500 snack packs for the community! But Caitlin didn’t stop there. She and her mom, Leigh, now volunteer at MATTER to help assemble Volunteer Kits in our warehouse. Caitlin explained why she’s so passionate about helping people. “I think it’s really important to volunteer and give back to your community. Especially when you’re helping provide people with food, which is such an important need.”
And what do Caitlin’s friends think of her passion for helping others? “My friends think it’s really cool that I have such a big commitment to this. A couple of them are interested in volunteering next year because they’re inspired by what I’m doing at MATTER. It makes me feel good to know that others want to volunteer because I’m doing it.”
During this National Volunteer Month, we want to thank Caitlin and all of our faithful volunteers who selflessly give their time and energy to support MATTER’s mission. We know each of you has an inspirational volunteer story to tell and because of your efforts, we are able to help people launch projects that improve communities here at home and around the world. Thank you! You matter!
