Senior Victoria Kulig was nominated to be a part of the Beacon Place Teen Leadership Board which assists children and their families in the community.
The Beacon Place Teen Leadership Board organizes and runs fundraisers in the community to raise money for their programs to help children and their families fight hunger. They also assist children in their education by hosting tutoring sessions.
“At Beacon Place, we strive to feed, educate, activate, train, and empower children and families through food and technology resources that will enable them to develop as stronger individuals and communities,” as stated on the Beacon Place website.
Kulig first heard about Beacon Place when she worked to find service hours over the summer for PSP. She received information on Beacon Place, and upon first volunteering for Beacon Place, she was excited to begin the program.
“The first time I volunteered for Beacon Place I fell in love with it,” Kulig said.
Being a part of a group of 20 people that helps to organize parties and fundraisers for so many children is something that Kulig is incredibly proud of. Kulig is currently also the only student in the school who is on the board.
“It’s amazing that I’m able to be a part of the board when I have only been volunteering for Beacon Place for such a short amount of time,” Kulig said.
Kulig has just recently began to volunteer for Beacon Place but was able to join the biggest programs that are running during the summer. She was able to participate in the lunch program and help out later in the summer with “Beacon Backpack”.
The “Beacon Lunch Bunch” provides lunch for children that would receive a free lunch during school but do not have access to the food the school would provide them during the summer. There are also games and activities provided for the kids.  The second program during the summer is the “Beacon Backpack” program. Every child a part of the program receives a backpack, and each Thursday they bring the backpack and fill it up with food. This food is to help their family, and when the program is done, the students can use the backpack for school.
The board is currently working on setting up a Christmas party for the children and their families. Beacon Place is also renovating a house in order to have more indoor programs for the children later in the year and to be able to have a place where the children can be tutored by the volunteers.