Meet the Interns

Summer 2009

Erin Bradley - Radio Latino, Hispanic Families Work Group Executive Committee, Damage Assessment Team and Minority Golf Association

Matt Bischoff - State Farm P&C Claims and Marcfirst

Bevin Cowie - State Farm Enterprise Internet Solutions and East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging

Heather DeLong - State Farm Public Affairs and Habitat for Humanity of McLean County

Taylor Gregurich - State Farm Marketing and American Red Cross of the Heartland

Patrick Kirchhofer - State Farm Bank and Minority Golf Association

Michael Kotz -State Farm Public Affairs and West Bloomington Revitalization Partnership

Celina Mendoza - State Farm Public Affairs and Downtown Bloomington Association/ Farmer's Market

Michael Morrissey - State Farm Strategic Resources and Ecology Action Center

Karin Unruh - Back to School Project, American Red Cross Youth Programs and Damage Assessment Team

Ewelina Wojnowska - State Farm Public Affairs and ISU Extended University: Workforce Development Consortium

Kenny Woodard - State Farm Human Resources and UNITY Community Center

Summer 2008

Heidi Adams - American Red Cross of the Heartland

Heidi is a Senior Sociology major at IWU. She worked with the American Red Cross to create a Community Disaster Education Program for renters. "I think there is a lack of knowledge about rental safety," Heidi said. "Hopefully this program will be able to begin educating people about issues that may occur while they are renting."

Michelle Bourgeois - Marcfirst

Michelle Bourgeois is a Senior English major with minors in Spanish and Psychology. She worked with Marcfirst to help build social capital for people with developmental disabilities. "This project is important to me because it really focuses on finding ways to improve an individual's quality of life. I will be helping people with similar interests to connect to one another and possibly form long-lasting friendships."

Matt Garmon - Ecology Action Center

Matt is a Junior Business Administration-Finance and English Literature double major. He worked with the Ecology Action Center to help organize community members to do a variety of projects to benefit the local ecology. "The work that I am doing at the Ecology Action Center allows me to aid and play a role in Ecology, Community Service, and Education, which are some of my most cherished passions."

Michael Gorman - Hispanic Families Workgroup

Michael is a Junior Computer Science major. He worked with the Hispanic Families Workgroup to help design a web site. "Without a web site in today's world, an organization basically doesn't exist. If you can't be Googled, you aren't important. I taught myself HTML in seventh grade because I was bored. The least I can do is help a worthy organization get the recognition they deserve by expanding their reach."

Alison Harford - East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging

Alison Harford is a Senior Economics Major with a Political Science Minor. She worked with the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging to make help more accessible to senior citizens when filling out their tax returns. "As an economics major, this project allows me to apply the knowledge that I have learned in the classroom to the real world. The research that I conduct on this project will also give state and local legislators insight into the way that tax rebates affect seniors in the Eastern Central Illinois region."

Samantha Kaplan - YWCA of McLean County

Samantha Kaplan is a Sophomore Political Science and Women's Studies double major. She worked with the YWCA to help follow up with the racial justice summit that took place in April. She helped to implement an action plan to eliminate institutional racism. "Since I want to eventually work with non-profits in the future, my placement at the YWCA is helping me learn the basics of how non-profits run."

Aaron Massey - West Bloomington Task Force

Aaron Massey is a Junior Sociology major with an emphasis on Urban planning. He worked with the West Bloomington Task Force to create a community garden. This was one of the projects focused on community revitalization. "This project is important to me because it is affecting people positively. We can do what people have wanted to do for ages, make the world a better place."

Bryce Pierson - PATH

Bryce is a Senior Political Science Major. He worked with PATH (Providing Access To Help) on the implementation of the 2-1-1 Illinois project which will provide access to information in regards to community services, crisis response, and disaster response. "This project is important to me because I believe it will aid the community greatly while taking pressure off of emergency services and response centers. While this project does not directly relate to my studies of political science, it still represents basics of state and community service and highlights how private and public entities can work in unison."

Julie Regenbogen - Autism Society of McLean County

Julie Regenbogen is a Junior Political Science and History double major. She worked with the Autism Society of McLean County to help with public relations for E=MC², a sub-section of the Autism Society that works to employ adults with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in the community through media relations, human interest stories, and other types of communication. "This project is important because it utilizes the power of media to influence real change for a disadvantaged group that is often overlooked in the community."

Brian Richardson - UNITY Community Center

Brian Richardson is a Senior Business Major. He worked with the UNITY Community Center to expand their thinking in more multicultural ways as well as teaching entrepreneurial classes to youth. "Each project enhances the brand of UNITY. Not only will UNITY have a stronger reputation in the community, but also its main customer, local families, will see the value added. The marketing aspect of my study in business speaks to that reasoning."

Summer 2007

Josh Haraf - Boys and Girls Club

Josh is a senior business administration-marketing major from Justice, Ill. He spent two days per week at the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington, where he organized outdoor programming, interacted with the kids and assisted the administrative staff. "The ability to feel like you're actually making a difference is one of the most fulfilling experiences I've ever had," Josh said. "Seeing the look in [the kids'] eyes and the smiles on their faces makes every second worthwhile."

Emily Meade - UNITY Community

Emily is a junior business administration and music double major from Canton, Ill. During the two days she spent at the UNITY Community Center, Emily worked with the day camp kids in the mornings and worked on the business side of the center, such as writing grant applications and assessing finances, in the afternoon. "I think my favorite part of the internship is that these kids are different than anybody I've ever worked with before," Emily said. "They have a great attitude about the day camp; you can tell they really want to be here and that they love it, and it makes every day fun."

Erin Cox - Hispanic Families Work Group

Erin is a senior political science and Hispanic studies double major and an art history minor from Rockford, Ill. Erin spent two days per week working for the Hispanic Families Workgroup, prepping the community for a large survey of the Hispanic community in the fall by interviewing the HFWG funders and local social service agencies. "[With this internship] you get to learn how to adapt to situations that demand critical thinking and self-motivation to solve problems," Erin said.

Katie Nelson - Big Brothers Big Sisters

Katie is a junior English-writing major and psychology minor from Mason City, Ill. Katie conducted a survey of BBBS volunteers in order to improve their services and increase their volunteer retention rate. She also worked on grant-writing for the organization. "I like doing something where I can go home and feel good about myself at the end of the day," Katie said. "It has been an eye-opening experience going from volunteer to staff member."

Chris Burrichter - Western Avenue Community Center

Chris is a senior political science major from Batavia, Ill. Chris is placed at the Western Avenue Community Center, where he is helping to redevelop the infrastructure, create a strategic plan, and do SWOT analyses. "The reality is that we live in a country of such wealth, of such prosperity and blessings across the board, that there really is no reason for a Bloomington family to go without a meal. Or without a doctor. Or without equal treatment under the law," Chris said. "On a daily basis I watch families come in and learn about medical programs offered in Bloomington, I see children provided with a haven to shelter them from a life in the street that so often leads to gangs and drugs."

Diana Lopez - Day Care Center of McLean County

Diana, a senior political science and philosophy double major from Aurora, Ill., split her NFP time between the Day Care Center of McLean County and Heartland Head Start. Diana coordinated programs between the two centers, created educational materials and assisted the administrative staff. Diana enjoys the independence and exploration allowed by the State Farm ARC Internship program. "It allows me to test out the water for two potential career paths (community work/development and corporate-business) and see how I fit in," she said. "Because I work in the Community Affairs team, I get to see the interaction between for-profit and non-profits everyday."

Jack Bentley - American Red Cross

Jack, a senior political science major and philosophy minor from Downers Grove, Ill., was placed at the McLean county chapter of the American Red Cross. Jack spent his time training as a disaster volunteer, teaching classes and giving presentations about disaster preparedness, and working on public affairs. "I feel like I'm exposed to so many volunteers who are dedicated to helping people. They're all so passionate, and come from such different backgrounds," Jack said. He also plans to continue to work with Red Cross long after his internship is over. "It's nation-wide, so no matter where I live, I can get involved."

Jessica Olsen - STAR Adult Literacy

Jessica is an English-literature and secondary education major and a German minor from Rockford, Ill. She worked two days per week at the STAR Adult Literacy Center, where she worked on publicity, updated the website and researched literacy issues. Jessica previously worked with STAR as a volunteer. "I get to see the organization I volunteered with from a different perspective. Now I see the behind-the scenes work and the process that goes into bringing these services to the community."

Kyle Charles - PATH

Kyle is a political science major and sociology minor from Davenport, Iowa. His not-for-profit work was at PATH, where "there's always something different to do," he said. "I'm usually not at a desk." Some of Kyle's varied tasks included giving a presentation on becoming accredited with the Alliance of Information and Referral Services, creating surveys and helping others write presentations. "It's something totally new for me," Kyle said. "I knew nothing about this when I started, and now I talk like a junkie with all the jargon and acronyms."

Jennifer Schnupp at 4-H

Jennifer, a senior psychology major and biology minor from Schaumburg, Ill., did her non-profit work at 4-H, where she did a large-scale assessment to determine why adolescents drop out of the 4-H program. "If I had my way, I'd just volunteer all summer," Jennifer said. "Now I can sort of do that while still getting paid. And everyone here is really passionate and invested in the work."