Pack at Saint Ursula

            The best feeling in the world is that feeling of happiness that consumes your entire being- inside and out; I get that feeling every time I am at a LNI pack. Today, we packed with the freshman class of St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. On the drive to the pack, my good friends Brandon and Amy both said to me, “how do you have so much energy this early in the morning?” The answer: “I am just SO excited!!” We arrived at St. Ursula and began unloading the truck; we were able to finish in no time thanks to all of our amazing LNI volunteer friends who came to help out. They say, “many hands make light work” but I think many of my fellow volunteer friends would agree, “many hands and a wagon makes even lighter work.” Setting up was a breeze as everyone jumped into working. A half an hour before we began the pack, Dr. Rosenberg and I went to go talk to all of the students to go over who we are and what we do. I walked into the cafeteria where all of the girls were and I remember seeing them and thinking, “woah!” There were around 175 girls sitting in the cafeteria waiting for Dr. Rosenberg and me. I felt nostalgic as it was this incredible group of young leaders all of whom were young women- I thought back to my high school days having also attended an all-girls high school and it felt amazing to again be surrounded by such incredible women- it is so empowering. I began passing out buttons to all of the girls in the room (yes, we have fancy LNI buttons now- they’re super cool!) and while everyone was thanking me, I felt so welcomed as I could feel how excited they were to be there. Dr. Rosenberg talked about Lesotho and LNI and then I got to share how I became involved in LNI and why I am so passionate about this organization; the response from the girls and the faculty and staff who worked there was truly incredible. It is amazing to be so passionate about something, but it is even more amazing when you see other people developing that same passion. We started the pack and the gym was transformed with lots of singing and dancing whilst packing LNI meals- the atmosphere was incredible. We were all having such a fun time dancing to things such as: “We’re All in this Together” from HSM, but while also, at the same time, being incredibly productive, consistent, and precise. I walked around and talked to all of the tables and I got to meet a lot of incredibly smart, talented, passionate, driven, beautiful, independent, and strong young women. Everyone was incredibly kind and truly wanted to be there; it made my heart smile. What these young women accomplished today and what every group who packs with us accomplishes is remarkable. Sometimes, I think we wonder how we can make a difference in the world and often become saddened that we are not making a “big enough” impact. But working with LNI has taught me that these “little,” seemingly “insignificant” things that we do such as scooping a cup of rice into a bag for 2 hours- that DOES make a HUGE difference. These girls packed 23,760 meals in one hour. That is 23,760 meals in 60 minutes. That is 396 meals a minute. And those 23,760 meals that they packed today will feed 3,500 children for the next 8 days. So, the next time you have five minutes, and you think that they’re not significant enough to get anything done, just remember that your time is precious, it matters, and it CAN make a difference. The energy from all the girls today, the teamwork from all of the LNI volunteers, the passion and drive that we all have for this organization, and knowing that these meals are impacting the lives of others- all of that makes my heart smile. And there is nothing comparable to that feeling…