Another National Volunteer Week is upon us, and we’re excited to be celebrating the many youth that make up the curious, innovative, creative Youth in Food Systems volunteer team! Since the blog (and social media) began in 2021, we have had the pleasure of knowing more than 250 youth who have joined as Social Media Content Creators and Blog Writers, Editors, Designers, Publishers, and Managers.
We invited our current team to share about themselves, and here’s what we got back from them. Say hello!
Declan Murphy
I’m Declan, and I am a senior at GCI in Cambridge. I am a writer and occasional editor. I’ve been with the YFS blog since 9th grade, and it’s been great working with the team. I appreciate the way working with YFS has allowed me to work on my writing skills, and benefit from editing and publishing my work. I plan on studying history at university, and I have been able to explore my love of history in several posts I really enjoyed researching and writing. I will have a lot more experience with writing polished pieces than many first year students because of my time with the YFS blog! Also, of course, I have learned a lot about food systems, and gardening, as well, and working with YFS really helped me connect with my family as we worked on our own garden.
Georgina B
Hi! My name is Georgina, and I use she/her pronouns. At Youth in Food Systems, I create social media content for our page, as well as research and write blog posts. The main aspects of the work and team that excite me include the ability to develop media skills, collaborate with other youth, and explore meaningful themes of climate change, food security, and culture. YFS has provided the space for this, and I’m happy to contribute and grow here
Polina Kharlashina
My name is Polina, and my pronouns are she/her. I’m part of the Feeding Minds Media Team at Youth in Food Systems (YFS), where I focus mainly on design and creating visual content. I really enjoy being creative and helping present ideas in a visually engaging way. What I enjoy most about being part of YFS is the opportunity to contribute to meaningful projects while developing my skills and working with a supportive team.
Mitchell Galbraith
My name is Mitchell and I am an editor and writer for the blog. My favourite part of the blog is learning about new and interesting topics. I also enjoy collaborating with others who share my interests. I look forward to learning new things and meeting new people while volunteering for the blog!
Rashiqa Ali
Hello! My name is Rashiqa Ali (she/her) and I am a blog designer for the Feeding Minds Media Team, where I create cover designs for the Youth in Food Systems Blog. During my time volunteering with YFS, one of the things I enjoy most is the opportunity to be creative with my designs and experiment with new formats and styles. This experience allows me to explore new ideas, try different approaches, and continuously expand my skills in design.
Ish Modi
My name is Ish Modi and my pronouns are He / Him. On the team I am a writer and editor. I enjoy the flexibility, the ability to work at your own pace, and I enjoy making posts that people will see.
Khushal Patel
Hi, I am Khushal Patel, my pronouns are he/him. I am a blog designer here at YFS. What I like most about being part of YFS is the staff and volunteers who have always helped me when needed.
Ocean Croft
Hello! My name is Ocean Croft, and I may be referred to as he or him. I work as a blog editor for the Feeding Minds Blog Team, which basically means I work to help guide the writer of a blog in the right direction by providing them with thoughtful suggestions on improving grammar, wording, and sentence structure prior to publishing, to make for a better reading experience for young people like myself.
Since I first joined the team a month ago, everyone here in the Youth in Food Systems program has been quite welcoming of me and were happy to answer any questions I had, to which I happily made use of, and since then, I have had plenty of fun, reading, understanding, and helping to improve peoples’ blogs. If there is one thing I enjoy most, it is the challenge behind stepping outside of your own comfort zone, regarding how you write, in order to provide suggestions to the writer that appeal to their values instead of your own.
Tanvi
I am Tanvi, she/her. I am a writer and editor for the blog. I enjoy many things but my favourite would be learning new things through my research.