Jade Bennett spent much of her youth living aboard a sailboat as it circumnavigated the globe. After her semester at Alzar, Jade’s family landed in Cape Town, South Africa, where she completed high school. This project began as a way for Jade to connect with people in her community, as she and her family are new to the area and have not yet had the opportunity to fully integrate into the town. At the same time, the project provided a personal opportunity for Jade to grow and test her cooking skills on a larger scale, while also giving back by sharing food with others. Although the project has not required additional participants, Jade has researched and reached out to several inspiring individuals who are leading innovative food distribution efforts similar to her own.
In the semester after Alzar, Jade’s work on her project has primarily focused on drafting and brainstorming, rather than involving others or beginning the hands-on implementation. Due to a demanding academic schedule, Jade planned to launch the project in September. In preparation, she met with several individuals involved in similar food distribution efforts to gain insights and answer key questions. She also designed promotional materials, including posters and social media content, to support the project’s future outreach and engagement.
Jade hopes that her parents and friends will support the implementation of her project in September, with plans to dedicate an entire weekend to preparing and distributing food. She also spent many hours this semester researching and refining the project’s details and goals in preparation for its launch next year.
This project provided Jade Bennett with a meaningful opportunity to apply the leadership skills she developed at Alzar. Although it was initially intimidating to implement the project independently, the experience proved to be deeply rewarding. Jade now feels confident in her ability to continue this project or initiate a similar one in the future to benefit her community in new ways. She plans to apply to universities in the USA this next year.