Summer Success

Another successful summer internship program is coming to an end. Over eight weeks, 16 high schoolers from nine local towns have worked 40 hours over their two-week session. That’s a lot of learning for them, and a ton of help for Open Table. The program was led by this year’s Summer Student Internship Coordinator, Camille Butters, who is a 2023 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury high school and worked as an intern herself last summer.

“I really enjoyed being a part of the Open Table community last summer, and thought this would be a great, impactful way to spend the summer before heading off to college,” Camille said.

Camille explained that this summer the interns were exposed to more sides of just what our pantry does. They not only worked on packing and distributing food, but helped with kids’ lunch program, attended manager presentations, and went offsite to help with mobile pantries, visit partners such as Gaining Ground, and work at the Beharrell Street community donations center. “It’s great to see how the other moving parts work,” Camille said; “It’s bigger than just what you see at the pantry.”

For most interns, it’s eye-opening to see just how much food insecurity is in their neighborhood, and to understand the impact it has. On their last day, as they reflect on what they’ve learned, every intern mentions how grateful they are to have learned just what it takes to feed people, and to be a contributing member of their community.

It makes such an impact that many of them come back to volunteer.