In just three months, 16-year-old Nitya Kapilavayi from Weddington volunteered 100 hours in our Indian Trail Common Cupboard. You read that correctly — 100 hours!!!

This amazing accomplishment earned Nitya a Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award through AmeriCorps. During the summer months she was a fixture at our Indian Trail location doing everything from sorting incoming donations and restocking shelves to packing boxes of food for hungry families. She even served on Saturdays with her Dad.

“I didn’t have much experience with hunger before but now I know how many people in our local area need food,” she said. “I was really surprised by all the fruits, vegetables, bread and desserts that are donated by local supermarkets. I think that’s so generous and great that they don’t waste all that food.” (We do too!! We love our grocery rescue partners!)

Nitya said she enjoyed making new friends — of all ages — and encourages other teens to get involved. For her, it helped solve summer boredom and was rewarding too.

“I think it’s a good experience and allows you to not only think of yourself. You can use your free time to help others,” she said. “I was really excited to give back.”