{"id":12520,"date":"2023-08-04T14:56:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/tennessee\/?p=12520"},"modified":"2023-08-17T14:32:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T14:32:07","slug":"youth-ambassador-spotlight-caroline-greenholtz-ymca-of-greater-chattanooga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/tennessee\/2023\/08\/04\/youth-ambassador-spotlight-caroline-greenholtz-ymca-of-greater-chattanooga\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Ambassador Spotlight: Caroline Greenholtz, YMCA of Greater Chattanooga"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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5 Questions with Caroline Greenholtz, YMCA of Greater Chattanooga<\/strong><\/h2>
Caroline Greenholtz is a No Kid Hungry Youth Ambassador working this summer at the YMCA of Greater Chattanooga<\/a>. The Youth Ambassador program is a ten-week paid internship program for undergraduate students to help end childhood hunger in their communities. Learn more about No Kid Hungry’s youth engagement here<\/a>.<\/h5>
No Kid Hungry Tennessee spoke with Caroline about the challenges, opportunities, and impact of feeding kids through summer meals.<\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Can you describe your community? What do you love about it?<\/strong><\/p>

I would describe my community as diligent. Knowing a problem exists and going about your day is easy, but that\u2019s not how the Chattanooga community acts. There are so many childhood summer programs that only provide kids a place to get a free meal and hang out for the day, but a place where they can learn how to become strong, independent, and kind people. What I love most about my community is how much they care. People like Curtis Cecil at the Soddy Daisy Library, who makes a child redraw a drawing because he knows they have more potential, and Coach Alexander at Operation Outreach, who has any program you can think of from dance to computer literacy to prepare his kids to be resourceful and explore their passions. I love that everyone, from the program directors to the staff at the Y, does their work not because they have to but because they love their community so much they couldn\u2019t imagine doing anything else.<\/span><\/em><\/p>

How did you decide to become a Youth Ambassador? What have you learned from the experience so far?<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve volunteered for the Food and Fun program since I was eleven, so I was pretty familiar with the program. I am also a social work major interested in nutrition, so this job felt perfect. Nothing seemed better than getting some experience in nonprofit work I\u2019m passionate about with a group I\u2019ve known for almost ten years. From my time as a Youth Ambassador, I\u2019ve learned how hardworking my community is. From an outside perspective, it\u2019s easy to say that your community is lazy regarding social issues, but my viewpoint was completely shifted after meeting our partners. They work so hard to create a safe and welcoming environment where youth can learn how to be good people and, in some cases, redirect the course of their life by giving them a mentor and a support system they can lean on as they age. It gives me a lot of hope for the future of Chattanooga because of all the dedication put into positively influencing youth during the most formative years of their life.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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