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Has Catholic Charities helped you during our 75 years of service? Have you worked for or volunteered for Catholic Charities? Have you contributed to Catholic Charities?
Tell us why and how Catholic Charities has had an impact on you!
Has Catholic Charities helped you during our 75 years of service? Have you worked for or volunteered for Catholic Charities? Have you contributed to Catholic Charities?
Tell us why and how Catholic Charities has had an impact on you!
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Melia Chittenden
Melia Chittenden Volunteer My name is Melia Chittenden and I am a rising senior at Princeton University studying Public & International Affairs, with a focus on Arab culture/history and immigration. I had the pleasure of interning for Catholic Charities, NM during the summer of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to cancel my original plans to intern abroad. Thankfully, I was able to help Catholic Charities with communications, outreach, promotion of the 2020 Census, and volunteer activities. My experience with Catholic Charities was very unique due to the limitations of COVID-19, but I learned a lot and loved that I was able to help during this especially difficult time. One of my favorite projects this summer was working on increasing participation in the 2020 Census among hard-to-count populations. Carolina, Daniel, and I worked on finding small local businesses in hard-to-count communities and partnered with them to provide $10 gift cards to the first 50 customers who showed that they had filled out the Census. I enjoyed visiting these businesses myself and interviewing the employees to create promotional videos for social media. I also really enjoyed working at the In-Kind Donation Center with Kathy Freeze collecting backpacks and school supplies from generous donors to distribute to refugee families and their children. When I was not working, I absolutely loved exploring Albuquerque and New Mexico. After self-quarantining and testing negative for COVID-19, I was able to go for runs along the beautiful Bosque, hike the gorgeous Sandia trails and Petroglyph National Monument, watch drive-in movies at the Balloon Fiesta Park, and explore the rest of the city. On weekends, I drove down to White Sands National Park and up to Santa Fe and Taos. Growing up in Los Angeles, I never imagined the myriad of landscapes and excursions that New Mexico has to offer. Just like its residents, this state is an incredible mosaic of diverse experiences. Thank you so much to Catholic Charities for this amazing opportunity, I look forward to continuing to work with the organization (remotely) throughout the fall! |
Sandra Steward
Sandra Steward Volunteer |