Sarah Sloan - Grassroots Grocery National Intern Impact Day (Volunteer Work Related to Career Goals (per year): 3 points)

On National Intern Day, I had the privilege of joining fellow Summer 2025 Paramount interns in a volunteer initiative with Grassroots Grocery, a New York City–based organization dedicated to combating food insecurity with dignity and community care. Together, our intern cohort prepared and packaged over 2,200 sandwiches for food-insecure neighborhoods across Manhattan and the Bronx, a powerful reminder that small, collective actions can have lasting impact.

The work of Grassroots Grocery addresses a crucial issue often overlooked in conversations about hunger, accessibility, and dignity. As I learned during our service, only one in four New Yorkers experiencing a food emergency turn to a pantry, often due to barriers like transportation, time, or stigma. Grassroots Grocery dismantles these barriers by bringing the pantry to the people, partnering with trusted community members to deliver fresh food directly to those in need.

Participating in this initiative deepened my understanding of how systemic challenges, like food insecurity, require community-based, compassionate solutions. It expanded my thinking beyond corporate social responsibility as a checkbox, showing how purpose-driven action can be embedded in organizational culture. Through this experience, I came to see service not as an isolated act, but as an essential expression of empathy and leadership.

This volunteer experience profoundly impacted my perspective on service and teamwork. Working side by side with my fellow interns, I witnessed how collaboration, efficiency, and shared purpose can transform a simple task, assembling sandwiches, into a tangible expression of care. It reminded me that service doesn’t always require grand gestures; it’s about consistency, humility, and a willingness to meet people where they are.

Personally, I found joy in connecting with others who share a desire to make a difference, even within a few hours of service. It strengthened my appreciation for community engagement and reaffirmed my belief that leadership begins with service, listening, learning, and giving without expectation. Competitively racing against the clock to assemble sandwiches united us not only as teammates but as agents of change for the Manhattan community.

The lessons I learned volunteering with Grassroots Grocery extend beyond this one day of service. In both my academic and professional pursuits, I aim to approach leadership and storytelling with the same principles, meeting people where they are, honoring their dignity, and amplifying their voices.

Serving with Grassroots Grocery was more than an act of giving back; it was an act of connection. It taught me that when communities unite around compassion and care, we do more than feed others, we nourish hope, belonging, and humanity.

By Sarah J. Sloan