By Nikki Mehran
Hi everyone! My name is Nikki Mehran, and I am an intern at Mission: Restore. I recently graduated with a biology degree from Emory University. Throughout my studies and my internship at Mission: Restore, I have been amazed at the disparity between the quality of medical training and hospitals in the United States versus the rest of the world. However, seeing the progress that Mission: Restore has made in addressing these issues inspired me to find a way to help out.
Some of my favorite memories of growing up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, are of participating in community service projects as a student at George Washington Middle School, so I reached out to GWMS and was thrilled to hear that they were interested in having a Mission: Restore school fundraiser! I worked with a fantastic and incredibly talented team of students to create a short video so that the students could learn about global health and how Mission: Restore improves the lives people their own age. From March 14th through 18th I organized a Mission: Restore bracelet sale and, thanks to the help of our wonderful student volunteers, we raised $520 for Mission: Restore! Watching how passionate the students and teachers were about the cause, I was happy to see that GWMS continued to inspire students to become leaders in helping children in other parts of the world.
Many people were responsible for the success of this fundraiser:
To GWMS’ Principal, Dr. Kashmanian, thank you for taking the time to hear my ideas and for allowing us to hold a fundraiser at your school! Your enthusiastic support for all your students was an inspiration to me when I was a student at GW and still is today.
To Mr. Piacenza, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to create a wonderful video, and for recruiting (and keeping an eye on) so many energetic student volunteers.
To Mr. Piacenza’s media class and especially to Jake, Chloe, Parker, and Claire, thank you for taking on a leadership role with this fundraiser and for taking the time to be a part of the video. Also, thank you to Emily, our volunteer from Ridgewood High School, and Ciara, a Mission: Restore intern, for your invaluable help with launching the fundraiser.
To the students of GWMS, thank you so much for volunteering your time to sell bracelets! Thanks to your donations, you have played a big role in helping people in Tanzania and Myanmar live healthier, happier, lives.
