Kate Nelson was in Los Angeles pursuing her passion for stand-up comedy and theater when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The senior at Emerson College had just spent a few hundred bucks on headshots and through her internship had made some connections at HBO.
When COVID hit, New Voters took off, Rao says: “High school and college students had a lot of time on their hands.”In the fateful spring of 2020, a Stanford computer science major named Mary Zhu saw people complaining on social media that their internships had been canceled. Now a freshman at the University of Alabama, Underhill says he’s already brought on 28 “community organizers” to compile opportunities at the local and state levels. He primarily connects with people interested in volunteering through LinkedIn or Instagram.
While many Gen Z charities are addressing real needs that haven’t been met by other groups, that’s not necessarily the norm. In December, Ricardo Ramos graduated from Georgia Tech after just two and a half years at the university — and the education hardly cost him anything because he pieced together nine scholarships worth roughly $78,000. But he recalls that in high school he had to figure out the college application and scholarship process on his own.
Nelson, the college student who helped start Farmlink, moved on after an intense year of volunteering, during which she often put in 60-hour weeks. She needed a job to afford to move out of her mother’s house, so she moved to New York City and become a server at a restaurant. That lasted less than six months.
18-Year-Old Who Weighed 70 lbs. Came to Hospital Seriously Injured, 4 Family Members Accused of Kidnapping Him