Thanks to support from No Kid Hungry, we continued our SummerMeals4NCKids student intern project in summer 2024. This project embeds college students as paid interns in child nutrition programs across the state. These interns worked on the Summer Nutrition Program, which provides healthy meals at no cost to kids via thousands of sites in North Carolina. Take a look at the stories and lessons they brought back from their experience.
Sophia Ogawa
Transylvania County Schools
My name is Sophia, I am a student at Brevard College and I’m sponsored by Transylvania County Schools for the summer meal program.
I think the biggest thing for me is this is very personal for me because when I was in elementary, middle, and high school, I actually received meals from the hunger initiative in South Carolina. And so to be on the other side of that is just really special.
And especially with helping with the home deliveries, I like to brag about them because I see the need and how they cater to the children and how they help them.
I see how happy these kids get and a few of them will just sit on the porch, wait and wait for them to come because they know when they’re going to be there.
So it’s really, really special for me to see all different sides of it and to see all the work that gets put in from the cafeteria staff, from the office side of it, all of it. It’s very, very interesting.
Sophia Ogawa is completing her Bachelor of Physchology and Health Science at Brevard College.