Kristen Rawls watched something amazing happen as he served alongside a group of teens who were handing out bags of groceries to hungry families. The teens, who were volunteering for the Penn House mobile food pantry in June, felt awkward at first. But their fear melted as the long line of people, queued up to receive fresh fruits and vegetables, started to roll through.

“As they started interacting with the families, they started livening up,” said Rawls, a United Way AmeriCorps member who is a Summer of Service team leader, supervising the 73 middle school and high school students who will participate in the popular program this year. “They started having conversations, and some of the kids started joking around with the people getting food. There was a barrier to them, to interact with people who had high needs, and that barrier was broken down, and it became extremely comfortable.”

Now in its sixth year, the Summer of Service is designed to do just that: Give young people a chance to learn about the needs in Douglas County and discover how they can play a key part in transforming our community through service. Now through the end of July, the students will take part in service learning projects at 13 different nonprofit organizations like the Willow Domestic Violence Center, Operation Wildlife and Theatre Lawrence, and serve as volunteer interns for the Lawrence Humane Society and LINK. Together, they will contribute an estimated 1,600 volunteer hours.

“Exposing young persons to the very real nature of ground-level social services is crucial to developing a healthy community,” shared Kyle Roggenkamp, director of human services, at Penn House, where the students also organized donated school supplies for low-income children and sorted clothing and household donations. “Exposure to the reality of poverty is a powerful way to develop empathy in our community, passion in those who have an opportunity to help,” he explained.

That’s the impact volunteering for the mobile food pantry had on Jonathan Lesslie, one of the Summer of Service volunteers. As a Lifetime Boy Scout, this Free State High School junior has volunteered a lot. But he was surprised by the number of people who needed emergency food assistance from Penn House and was happy he could hand them bags filled with fresh foods like cabbage, peppers and apples.

“It’s been pretty fun, actually,” Lesslie said. “It’s nice to give back to the community.”

Izabella Fletcher, a freshman at Free State High School, is participating in Summer of Service for her second year because she had such a good experience last year. “I have a lot of free time in the summer to help the community,” she explained. Volunteering for the mobile food pantry made a big impression on her, she said. “People were almost crying with enthusiasm over getting apples,” she shared. “A lot of families can’t afford a bag of apples. A lot of us take apples for granted!”

In addition to serving, Fletcher said she’s enjoyed building friendships with the other youths in the program. “It has made me better at talking to people,” she said.

“Volunteer support is the lifeblood of Penn House,” Roggenkamp said. “Summer of Service youth played a vital role in our school kits and mobile food pantry programs. We were short volunteers for our mobile food pantry this month, so not only were they able to learn about food insecurity in Douglas County, they also added to our ability to even run the program for the month of June.”