Grace Klein Community (GKC) is more than a nonprofit organization. It is a community interconnected with the foundation of love, family and prayer as they rescue food to give to those with food insecurity, by spreading the word and love of the Lord.
At GKC, volunteers are a backbone who serve and fuel GKC’s values of embracing community, radiating compassion, demonstrating respect, cultivating teamwork, and inspiring resourcefulness. Allison Grogan is one of many who embraces and portrays these values with purpose.
Right outside Jackson, Mississippi, going on to her senior year of high school, Grogan is a treasured volunteer at GKC. With a church and family connection to GKC, Grogan has been volunteering at GKC every spring break for the past five years and for the first time this summer, became an intern.
“I absolutely love it here,” Grogan said. “I’ve only been here for three weeks, but I feel like I’ve already built such a good community.”
Since she was already so familiar with volunteering at GKC, Grogan was excited to start her internship and to be surrounded by familiar and new faces. Every day, Grogan approaches the Liberty Drive-Thru with joy and a smile on her face as she serves her community.
As part of her internship, Grogan engages in a variety of tasks such as food rescues, volunteering, and working along with the Director of Operations at GKC, Natalie King– not only with organizational tasks, but also by assisting in babysitting King’s identical twin boys, reflecting Grogan’s growing interest in childcare. In addition, her time serving at GKC has been a meaningful experience, shaping and teaching important values.
“You learn so much every day,” Grogan said. “Both practical things like how to conserve food and how to rescue food and how we distribute it to people.”
With the abundant donations GKC receives and the many people those food donations feed in the community, it is encouraging for Grogan to see that people in need in the community are receiving not only food, but kindness and the Lord’s blessing.
“You learn things about yourself, about other people, about relationships, and about everything,” Grogan said.
Even though some may not express it, it is also encouraging for Grogan to see those in the drive thru who are willing to be vulnerable and show how grateful they are to receive food boxes.
“It just reminds me of how truly blessed I am,” she said about being able to serve and give back. “Because the Lord has blessed me with everything I have.”
The GKC community is one of interconnectedness, faith, and hope. Volunteers welcome others with uplifting kindness by supporting each other physically, mentally, and spiritually. In Grogan’s eyes, GKC fulfills those values in action.
“This is an amazing community that I’ve been gifted with,” Grogan said with a smile.
At GKC, Grogan has found more than an internship–she has found a family that is full of faith, hope, and kindness. Serving at GKC not only has taught her important values about faith and relationships, but it has also inspired her to carry compassion in everything she does.
