RE LOG - Spring 2017

To Continue... Joshua Williams ’18 continued from page 21 under. Sometimes we have a police pres- ence for safety. We also get companies to donate, schools to donate, students do food drives. We’re not working with the homeless as much; we now focus on the impoverished and the less fortunate. We can help more people this way; it’s more efficient. You don’t need to cook the food, you just need to get the food. We can partner with anyone anywhere – assum- ing the space is big enough – to get food to the people who need it most. We can bring out people no matter where you are. Your foundation is very youth-ori- ented, correct? The foundation is very focused on youth, helping youth help youth and teaching the power of giv- ing. It’s very special seeing kids helping others. They learn a lot. It shows them a whole different world. It’s very powerful. Before I even started the foundation, I thought maybe I don’t want to incorpo- rate; let me look for another foundation I can help out in. I couldn’t find anything. With most service organizations, you had to be 16 or 18. So that was one of the founding principles of Joshua’s Heart, to make it accessible to anyone who wanted to help out. I don’t care what age you are. We’ve had babies come out and carry a can of food to recipients. It’s adorable, of course. We’ve had elderly people come to help out. It’s really a loving community of people who want to make a change. Members of my youth board, for example, assist me; represent me and the organiza- tion at events; occasionally travel with me; and even speak on my behalf. They are my right hand. Some have created their own projects. As young people, we have the ability to do so much. How has the community at Ransom Everglades helped you? The entire community has been extremely sup- portive. We have quite a few youth board members from Ransom Everglades, and a few leaders. The chair and vice chair of our junior advisory board are juniors at RE: Jordan Wong ’18 and Martin Posada ’18 . They also sit on the adult board as youth representatives. Joshua Abrams ’18 is our videographer; Lea Broudo ’17 and Zach Miller ’18 are our video editors; Gabriella Ouellette ’18 is our marketing director; Maria Olloqui ’18 is our assis- tant secretary; and Mary Logan Woolsey ’22 is a board member who started her own project at the Middle School. Recent- ly, many of our members were featured in the Canadian magazine, Owl. Explain how your foundation grew. We started to build up credibility in the community. We eventually got onto one of the local TV stations. Once we hit that news channel we started to get many volunteers, and we were able to have a rapid expansion. We were the only one at that time accepting all ages as volunteers. Schools would recommend us to people looking for volunteer opportunities and our volunteers would recommend us to others. They love the hands-on experience and being able to meet the families they are helping. As we grew, we were able to organize more. We won grants, awards, then more grants and awards. Awards are a great way to bring awareness to people. Also, the money we get from awards goes straight back to the community. We don’t have any full-time staff. No one takes a salary. It’s all volunteers. We have awesome volunteers. Incredibly dedi- cated volunteers who are helping all the time: Ransom Everglades kids, Ransom Everglades parents, students and adults outside of Ransom Everglades, my family, my mom and me. One hundred percent of the money we bring in goes back to help feed people. After all of these years, what moti- vates you? I feel God showed me one of my purposes at a young age, and as a fellow human being I can’t go by without trying to lend a hand, even a small hand. I don’t think there needs to be any pride involved in that. There just has to be a sense of kindness. You don’t have to be super-charismatic or super-anything. You just have to do it. It’s a crazy the amount of people who are hungry. One of four kids in America is hungry. That’s insane. One in four kids! Knowing that, there’s never enough to do until it’s all gone, until all the hunger and poverty is gone. Where do you see yourself in 10 or 15 years? Somebody once told me to take care of others, you have to take care of yourself first. Before you can be a role model for others, you have to be role model for yourself. I see myself in busi- ness, entrepreneurship, where I can take care myself and my family – and which will enable me to help more people. I will always be making a difference or having an impact; to whom much is given, much is expected. 66 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2017