by Shaniyah Mays, September 14, 2021

This year has really been one for the books, from Covid to remote learning to vaccines to finally opening back up. But during the midst of all this, I started my internship at a small black-owned business that helped point me in the direction I want to go with my career. While being in this industry, you have the opportunity to feed millions of people, and some people don’t even know where their next meal is coming from, and that’s mind-blowing to me. While at my internship, I noticed many homeless people coming to the restaurant, and no matter the time or how busy we were, we always stopped and made them a hot meal for free. Seeing how one meal can make someone’s day is what I’m in this industry for.

I’m here to feed people no matter their situation; the owner of the restaurant once said, “Feeding someone is a greater blessing than receiving a dollar.” That made all the hard work worth it to me; it showed me that working hard and making a great living is good but being able to help someone who probably hasn’t eaten in days is much more rewarding.    I’m so grateful to be a part of this industry at a time where anything is possible with a little hard work and dedication.