The Young Women’s Alliance is built upon four pillars: Lead, Educate, Network, and Serve. This month, we’re showcasing a different pillar each week, with stories about how our members have taken what they’ve learned in YWA and applied it in their own lives. This week, YWA community service events co-chair Tarryn Sanchez talks about how YWA helped connect her to service and the community when she first moved to Austin last year.
YWA member and community service events co-chair Tarryn Sanchez moved to Austin about a year ago and knew she wanted to get involved in the community as soon as possible.
Prior, while she lived in Memphis, she’d begun volunteering around the city through the group Volunteer Odyssey — which connects volunteers with their ideal service experiences.
“Volunteer Odyssey’s mission is to increase volunteer rates in Memphis and use service to enrich personal wellbeing,” Tarryn said, who served on the group’s board.
Through this experience, volunteering became a significant and important part of her life.
When Tarryn — who manages a public awareness campaign, Okay to Say, at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute — first arrived in Austin, she began looking for a local organization that could help connect her to local service opportunities.
“I had a really good experience volunteering through Volunteer Odyssey in Memphis — and it was also where I met many of my friends — but I was struggling to find something similar to that here in Austin,” she said.
“I didn’t know a lot about Austin yet, or what organizations were available to me.”
Then, as she was seeking ways to get involved with a young professionals organization, she found YWA.
The Benefits of Volunteering With a Group
Connecting with community service opportunities individually comes with a host of challenges. Especially with smaller organizations, you can frequently run into out-of-date calendars or activities that end up not happening for lack of participation.
“YWA really helped fill that need for me,” said Tarryn.
“With YWA I can meet new people here, get connected to volunteer opportunities, and have the opportunity to develop my leadership skills.”
Service to the Austin community is one of the pillars of YWA. Members are encouraged and empowered to give time to nonprofit organizations of their choice throughout the year, and one of the benefits is that YWA can help connect you with organizations that align with your passions and interests.
Tarryn got involved right away, and stepped up to serve as co-chair of community service events. In that role she helps coordinate the service events offered to YWA members every month.
For someone relatively new to the city, the organization has proved extremely rewarding — she’s able to meet new people and get involved in the community through giving back, all at once.
“Having a group of people to go to community service events with is great. It allows us to give back while also networking and connecting with each other.”
Giving Back in Austin with YWA
Austin is a city full of opportunities to give back. Perhaps because it houses the state capital and one of the top research universities, it’s not surprising that its residents tend to be civic-minded.
One report found that Austin had the most nonprofits per capita or any other city in Texas — 55 nonprofits for every 10,000 residents.
That makes it even more helpful to have a group guiding you to some of the places where you can be most impactful!
With the help of Tarryn and her fellow committee members, these are just a few of the many organizations YWA has worked with to organize service events:
1. Central Texas Food Bank
The Central Texas Food Bank works to provide food to those in need through multiple avenues, including a community kitchen and garden, fresh food distribution, food programs for children and the elderly, and much more.
“Working with the Food Bank has probably been my most memorable service experience so far,” Tarryn said. “We had a huge group show up together — it was a lot of fun to divide and conquer and get to see how the food bank works.”
2. BookSpring
BookSpring — another of Tarryn’s favorite organizations — is a local grassroots organization dedicated to literacy. They have provided books to hundreds of thousands of children over the years and also work with children and families to recognize the importance of reading and literacy.
3. Girls Empowerment Network
The Girls Empowerment Network (GEN) is a group dedicated to helping girls believe in their own power and abilities and teaching them the skills they need to thrive. It also has the special distinction of being YWA’s non-profit partner. What does that mean? In part:
- GEN receives an annual grant through the YWA Foundation, supported by YWA fundraising efforts.
- YWA members play a role in supporting GEN’s We Are Girls conference.
- GEN connects girls with mentors as part of the YWA-sponsored POWER CHATS with YWA.
“GEN is a standout organization,” said Tarryn.
“I love being able to give back to a younger generation of girls while also developing my leadership skills.”
Becoming a YWA Member
Membership is open throughout the month of January, so sign up today.
