#InternForGood - Giving back to the SF community with our interns

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Tuesday, 9 August 2016

Last month, the Twitter interns - we call ourselves @terns - partnered with @TwitterForGood to participate in the first #InternForGood initiative. #InternForGood empowers us all to give back our time and energy to the San Francisco community that Twitter calls home.

For this event, we volunteered at the GLIDE Foundation, an organization based in the Tenderloin district. GLIDE provides food, education, recovery support, temporary housing, and other services for the entire community. At GLIDE we served meals and interacted with many of the 1,000+ people that come for meals and assistance every single day.

My job included serving up piping hot food onto trays as each guest arrived. We yelled out to one another across the kitchen as visitors made meal requests, “I need double the broccoli on this tray!” The rest of the @terns greeted the visitors, handed out drinks, and helped clean the dining area. Every guest at GLIDE was grateful for a hot meal and place to rest, and tried to make their experience a little bit brighter.

Although I am new to San Francisco, I cannot help but realize the immense need for organizations such as GLIDE. A staggering number of local men, women, children, and families experience homelessness, hunger, and, at times, addiction While my time volunteering was brief, the impact our work made on me will be lasting. Seeing so many people from all walks of life struggling has sparked a deep desire to give back the gifts of time and energy that we are all blessed with.

#InternForGood and @TwitterForGood has given the team the opportunity to channel our voices and actions into real impactful projects aimed at giving back to our San Francisco community. I cannot wait to continue this adventure.