Fond Farewell to our Summer Outreach Intern
Welcome to the last of several summer 2022 Project Impact Outreach recaps from our Project Impact ROI intern. Project Impact ROI is an annual program designed to engage local high-school seniors and college-age students in community service, and expand our SHOTC youth summer programming and outreach. In return, the intern gains valuable leadership experience, credit hours (if applicable), and a monetary award. Know a student (18+) who would make a great intern candidate for Project Impact ROI? Click here for information.
My name is Ella Millere, and I am the 2022 Hands On Thomas County Impact ROI intern. I graduated from Thomasville High School and am currently a rising second year at the University of Virginia studying leadership and public policy. I see this summer as an opportunity to connect with my hometown and to build lasting relationships within the community. Thanks for following along on my intern and volunteer adventures.
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Over the course of the summer, I really enjoyed my time with Hands on Thomas County. Through the Impact ROI internship program, I was given the opportunity to learn more about myself and Thomas County.
My favorite part of the internship was by far all of the people I met in the community during the summer. I loved going back to non-profits for a second or third time and having several people recognize me and strike up conversations about school or other volunteer projects I was doing this summer. Building relationships with the kids I worked with was another big highlight for me. The kids at all of the youth organizations were always happy to see me (or maybe they were excited about the honey buns, not sure, but thanks Flowers Baking!), and were enthusiastic about volunteering and doing good in the community.
I enjoyed getting feedback from the kids about the projects and seeing what their favorite and least favorite parts about volunteering were. Many of the kids seemed to like projects where they could directly interact with people the most, like helping with kid’s camp at Hands and Hearts for Horses or making memory collages with residents at Legacy Village. During closing discussions, lots of kids would ask how they could volunteer with that organization on a regular basis or if there would be another opportunity to go back. This was one of the biggest things that made the internship so meaningful to me. I loved that the kids not only enjoyed volunteering but had also found something that they were passionate about.
Most of the projects I led this summer were ones that I had never participated in before. This gave me the chance to learn about more ways to get involved in my community and to learn about different things that I am interested in. Before this summer, I never considered the idea of working with elderly people. But after one visit to Scott Senior Center, my mind was completely changed. I loved hearing the seniors’ stories and seeing how happy they were after interacting with younger people. Visiting the senior center became one of my favorite volunteer activities, not only because I enjoyed talking to and meeting new people, but also because I loved being able to see an immediate positive impact from what I was doing.
There were also projects where I was not able to see an immediate impact from my actions, but I enjoyed these as well. While working at the Cherokee Lake Pollinator Garden, the benefits of our work could not be seen immediately, as we were laying the ground for new native plants to take root. One day, these plants will be the home of butterfly eggs and cocooning caterpillars, but when we left, it just looked like mulch laying amidst pine trees. This experience taught me to have patience and trust the process. Just because I can’t enjoy the beauty of the butterflies at the moment doesn’t mean that someone else won’t be able to in a few months.
Perhaps the most important skill I learned this summer was how to be flexible. During the opening discussion with each youth organization, the final rule we went over was “BE FLEXIBLE!”. This was not only important for the youth to remember, but also for me. I had to learn that no matter how much you prepare, there are some things that are just not in your control. Weather, COVID, or transportation issues could take over at any time, so it’s always important to have a backup plan. It’s also important to learn when to let go, because you can’t force everything to work out.
I also feel that I have gained lots of leadership experience and am able to handle more responsibility, especially from supervising so many kids during camp and volunteer activities. These are vital life skills that many people do not learn until their first job. But because of this internship, I was able to learn it much sooner.
I hope that I will be able to apply the skills I learned during this internship to both my life in my hometown ofThomasville and in my college town of Charlottesville, VA. I’m leaving this internship with a plethora of new experiences that will encourage me to become more active in every community that I belong to.
Special thanks to these Diamond Level & above Sponsors, The Thomasville Antiques Show Foundation, and all of our donors and sponsors for making volunteer programs and events like these possible.
First thing in the morning, we were on the bus for the drive to Metcalfe (don’t forget the E!). This small town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And is famous for being featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film Stranger On A Train, and its Orange Crush mural.
After a delicious lunch and short break, we were back on the bus to Thomasville and the Second Harvest warehouse.
This morning, after a too-long hiatus due to COVID, we had the opportunity to visit with our friends at Scott Senior Center. This is one site that never fails to pull at the heartstrings and bring a smile to every camper! While there we gave out smile cards made by our student volunteers, led devotional and the Pledge of Allegiance, participated in an exercise class, weeded the garden box and planted tomatoes, peppers, and sunflowers, and played several rousing and competitive games of BINGO! Our time was too short, but much appreciated by both campers and seniors.
We then jumped on the bus to travel to Boston. With a population of 1207, Boston is small, but thriving with great shops, several delicious restaurants, popular annual events, a historic Carnegie Library, and an active citizenry. Our afternoon consisted of a deluxe version of our Main Street Sweep: putting down new pine straw in Watt Park, weeding, garden beds, planting flowers in the breezeway pocket park, and cleaning storefront windows – our way of showing a little love and appreciation to the downtown businesses that make Boston so great!
In the 1950s, Meigs was booming thanks to the Dixie Highway Scenic Byway – a monument now marks the spot. Although now struggling like many small towns, its citizenry is active and determined to honor its history and revitalize their community. Our morning was spent with long-time partners the Virtuous Girls Group of Meigs. Together, we cleaned playground equipment, cleaned and organized the library, did some clean-up and landscaping at Meigs City Hall, helped organize items in the area that they soon hope to turn into a museum, and installed our first Little Free Library in partnership with 
After lunch, and a treat from Banks Italian Ice, we were off to our next project site, the Ochlocknee River. Ochlocknee is derived from the Appalachee language – oki meaning water and lagana meaning yellow (from the clay banks). While at the river, in partnership with 
