Two years ago, I read a news article about the shortcomings of the foster care system. I was horrified to learn that foster children travel from home to home with a trash bag filled with their belongings. I decided to search for a way to help. I found an organization called Together We Rise, which works to provide children with basic necessities, along with comfort items in a dignified manner. I started a local chapter of this nonprofit during sophomore year and by senior year, we had 34 members. I never thought this organization would put me in touch with a community of like-minded peers who cared as deeply as I do for children in need.

Just yesterday, we decorated big, blue duffel bags with pictures of dragons, flowers, and underwater creatures for children we’d never met. We made colorful holiday cards, sketching smiley faces next to our signatures, and filling gift bags with toiletries, streamers, and fluffy teddy bears. After our first year of school fundraising events, my Together We Rise community had raised enough money to provide 25 children with Sweet Case duffels. As a team, we worked together and created something that we were proud to present to the children.

There are currently over 500,000 minors in the United States foster care system. I see my role in my community — whether at home or around the world — as interconnected and interdependent. I can’t solve big problems alone, but I can organize, energize, and incentivize others to join me in an effort to make positive changes for the greater good.