As other fellows have mentioned our excursion this week to the Columbus Commons was a fun opportunity to bond, decompress from the work week, enjoy live music and eat adorable mini sandwiches. At one point some of us talked about what has set our fellowship experience apart from other internships we’ve had in the past. As things start to wrap up at a rapid pace I’ve been reflecting on that further. What I have appreciated most about the fellowship is that the agencies we have been placed with had to think carefully and thoughtfully about the project they want executed in 10 weeks. It’s not a situation where an intern is plugged into duties and roles that other interns have executed in the past. One of the many things I have appreciated about Concord is that they defined their project as piloting programming for youth at Southpoint, but have been completely open to whatever direction I take.

During my final week myself and the other youth staff will be putting on a Back to School Carnival for the school-agers at Southpoint. The plan is to give away school supplies as prizes for carnival games, and we have been working hard to seek out donations. Early on we decided to see if Concord would be willing to do an internal donation drive for school supplies. I felt a little unsure about asking staff to support the carnival out of their own pockets, but my supervisor encouraged the idea and said he had no doubt it would be supported. Fast forward to today, and I am so impressed and touched with how Concord’s staff has embraced the donation drive. The staff’s social committee adopted the donation drive as a project, and I have had multiple staff reach out to me to ask me what the most needed items are. To me this speaks volumes about the positive culture at Concord, and the staff’s willingness to go beyond their job duties to help impact the lives of the community they serve.

In our final learning session this week Kerri Mollard and Adrienne Selsor of Kerri Mollard Consulting, LLC, spoke with us about their philosophy and approach to fundraising. I learned that effective fundraising requires an understanding that relationships and engagement are important, as philanthropy is ultimately a voluntary endeavor that should be met with gratitude. As I have been soliciting donations and relying on external and internal support for the carnival, these frames have been very beneficial.