Meet Julia Lin: A young leader committed to fighting hunger and food insecurity for our elderly community members
“Food access is an important issue in our community and is one that I care deeply about. In my freshman year, I started volunteering at a food share in Hempstead. The ability to make a difference in so many people’s lives was truly incredible. As I’ve grown older, I have recognized my privilege more and more, and am reminded of it all the time. This quarantine served as an especially big reality check. However, in fear of endangering my grandparents, I am unable to fight against hunger physically at my food share. That’s when I started to look for other nonprofit organizations and alternative ways to contribute. I was glad to find the Hempstead-based EAC Network, an organization that was also committed to helping people, specifically the elderly—the ones most vulnerable to the pandemic—against hunger through its Meals On Wheels program. Supporting Meals on Wheels would be a great way to continue to help people obtain the food they need during the lockdown. To help, I created a Go Fund Me to help Meals On Wheels maintain their services during this time of crisis. I also suggested my mom to initiate a fundraiser for the same cause at her company. So far, we’ve been able to raise almost $3,000 for EAC’s Meals on Wheels program! Through this journey, I’ve learned that anyone can make a difference. We’ve been able to bring about awareness to the food struggles that seniors face and resist the hardships brought by COVID-19.”
At a time when we are all feeling the pain of quarantine and loss, it is truly uplifting to know that a young woman like Julia- is truly making a difference in the world. Thank you, Julia on behalf of all the hungry and often invisible elderly who will benefit from your gift, you are one in a million.
