Isabella Pan just wanted to find a place to record her required 40 hours of community service. Instead, he ended up running a Toronto student-run organization that connects students and others with volunteer opportunities.
She says that part of her motivation was something selfish, the desire to make new friends and participate in something that would take her out of the pandemic-induced routine.
“I really didn’t have time to make friends. He was really overwhelmed by school work and was at home all the time. It was not a great moment for me personally, ”said Pan, who took over as president of Non-contact impact Earlier this year, co-founders Jenny Wu, Sophie Yang, and Gracelyn Shi headed to college.
She and the eight other executive students, mostly from across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area, are now working to extend the organization’s legacy, which began shortly after the impact of COVID-19 to help people generate an impact while still being safe.
“I think what COVID taught me was resilience and perseverance,” he added. “If you can’t change it, you can only really accept it, and you must accept it with all your heart and with a positive mindset.”
The pandemic made it more difficult for high school students in Ontario to record the community service hours required to earn their diploma, even as the need increased after many charities and groups closed or were limited to online-only operations.
Initially a volunteer opportunity newsletter, Impact Without Contact expanded to a portal that matched people with openings and ran its own initiatives related to care centers, education, and public health.
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The organization now has more than 1,000 registered volunteers from more than a dozen countries, and many of the opportunities remain virtual.
The biggest growth right now is in care center work, which has shifted focus from long-term care to homeless shelters and delivered 200 care packages in October, Pan said. National Observer of Canada in a video interview.
The public health component is producing a second season of podcasts that focuses on the experiences of healthcare workers and others facing COVID-19, while having around 30 student-tutors offering support to those struggling. with online learning, as well as some. women in a shelter in Turkey.
Isabella Pan just wanted to find a place to record her required 40 hours of community service. Instead, he ended up running a Toronto student-run organization that connects students and others with volunteer opportunities. # COVID-19
“For me personally, my education had a huge impact during COVID. I couldn’t pay attention to online classes, my grades dropped dramatically when we had to move to remote learning, ”said Pan, noting that this was a common experience among her peers.
Pan, an 11th grader at St. Robert Catholic High School, an International Baccalaureate school in Thornhill, north of Toronto, says she hopes to do this job until she graduates from high school and is not sure what she wants. do after that. .
“I don’t want to have to work 100 hours a week as a consultant or in a law firm, although those are things that interest me,” she said. “I just don’t think that’s the kind of life I want to live.
“I want to work somewhere where they contribute positively to society, so I don’t feel guilty about what I do every day.”
Morgan Sharp / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada National Observer
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com