Teach — Jennifer Kernan

compiled by Sarah Asp | photography by Tamara Reynolds

Name: Jennifer Kernan, 19
Hometown: Alpharetta, Georgia
Family: Parents, Beth and John Kernan. Sisters, Tiana, 28,and Heather, 17.
Organization: Rivercliff Lutheran Church
Jennifer reaches out to youth by teaching Sunday school, mentoring, participating in Make-A-Wish activities and more.

Q: How have you volunteered recently?

A: I’ve been part of an after-school program sponsored by Rivercliff Lutheran to tutor elementary school kids, mostly second- through fourth-graders. I also do a lot of projects with Habitat for Humanity and Hands On Atlanta, as well as through the YMCA. Hands On Atlanta is a big organization, and they do just about anything in Atlanta, whether it’s packing food, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, helping animals, planting a garden to grow food for the homeless, anything.

Q: How long have you been volunteering?

A: I started volunteering when I was in the seventh grade, so I would have been 13.

Q: How did you get started volunteering?

A: The Robert Fowler YMCA in Duluth, Georgia, had a program on volunteering. It was a requirement that you went out every Tuesday and Thursday and worked with Hands On Atlanta. We did a different project every week. One week we would plant vegetables for the homeless, or we cleaned up parks so they could be rebuilt. We worked frequently at one specific park in downtown Atlanta that they wanted to restore, so we built benches, cleaned pathways and cleaned graffiti. Although the YMCA is not affiliated with Rivercliff Lutheran, camp is where I first got involved in volunteering and really got a love for it.

Q: How do I get involved?

A: There are tons of schools that would love help with teaching children and helping them out. They’re always looking for readers to come in. You could go online and contact the school. I’m pretty sure my church found my school through Hands On Atlanta. The teachers who help there are just so adamant with the children—they want to do whatever they can to help them with life. They are so nice. They are such sweet kids. I have had a blast teaching them.

Q: When you go home at night after a long day of volunteering, how do you feel?

A: Out of all the volunteer work I do, I think kids are the most important. They’re our future and if we don’t help mold them and make them better people…. Especially some kids just love when you go in there and read to them. It’s like the simplest things you can do for a kid who hasn’t had a great life, to make their day better.

Q: Do you believe you can change the world?

A: In a big picture, no, but there are little things we can do. Even if it’s just one person’s life, you can change it.

Q: What do you say to the person who says, “One person’s efforts don’t make enough of a difference?”

A: Well, going in there, that was just me. I sat down with those kids and we did those math problems. Just by doing 30 minutes of math problems, they’re already ahead. And if you come every Saturday…. You’re getting kids to care; they’re going to care in the long run. It’s small steps. You are making a difference…you are making a difference.

Q: Is volunteering a part of your faith?

A: I think volunteering is pretty important in helping make the world a better place. God gave us this beautiful earth; I want to do whatever I can to keep it beautiful.

Q: Do you expect a reward from giving back?

A: Oh no. I just kind of did it because I wanted to do it. It wasn’t an obligation to me and I enjoyed it, especially children—I love children, and I love helping them.

Q: What’s been your favorite volunteer moment—the one that keeps you coming back?

A: We went to this free preschool for children of homeless mothers and fathers while they go look for a job. All we had to do was come in there and play with them a couple of hours. I was with this little girl, and we spent the whole day looking for her shoe. It was a great time. The other kids, they were so cute; they just said the cutest things.

I really, really enjoyed it, and it’s something I want to continue with for the rest of my life.

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