My last week with LifeCare Alliance was truly bittersweet. Because I actually began my internship three weeks earlier than planned, all of my blog posts have been a bit delayed, but I was lucky enough to extend my time here by those extra weeks. That meant I could dive into even more projects and experiences than I ever expected.

After completing the first Meals-on-Wheels customer journey, I began work on a second customer journey for the Meals-for-Kids program. For this, I interviewed eight staff members and one partnered YMCA site, created playback sheets from the interview transcripts, and helped craft the problem statement. I also developed two mock personas, a driver persona and a YMCA staff persona, that will be used in a future journey-mapping activity at a half-day session.

I also had the chance to create 12 different marketing materials for our Winter Gifting Program, aimed at inspiring donors to sponsor clients and encouraging volunteers to help make crafts for the annual gift bags. In addition, I developed three targeted mail pieces for the Savor and Select home-delivered meals program, designed to re-engage former LifeCare clients. Each was tailored to a specific audience: pet owners, individuals in the farmers market program, and general clients.

Outside of marketing work, I attended both the Volunteer Appreciation event and the Conversations with County Commissioner Erica Crawley luncheon at Carrie’s Cafe. I also took a memorable day trip to Camp Hamwi in Danville, Ohio, where I toured the camp, ate lunch with the campers, and assisted our head of marketing in interviewing campers for future testimonials.

This summer has absolutely flown by, and I’m sad to be saying goodbye to such an incredible organization filled with the most dedicated and kind-hearted people. Working alongside my colleagues at LifeCare has been such a joy, and I will truly miss everyone. I hope to return in the future and continue serving the community in such a meaningful way.

I want to thank The Columbus Foundation for giving me the opportunity to work with an agency I’ve admired for so long. I also want to thank my fellow interns for being such a supportive and inspiring group, our learning seminars were always a highlight. And most importantly, thank you to everyone at LifeCare Alliance for making me feel that my contributions this summer truly mattered.

See you later,
Kat