November 5, 2024

Acquanyc

Health's Like Heaven.

How a nonprofit is investing in local youths

High school students working as summer interns at RestoreOKC participate in a career day event at the nonprofit's headquarters, 2222 NW 27.

Students spending their summer as interns at a local nonprofit recently got an opportunity to meet with professionals from throughout the Oklahoma City community.

RestoreOKC, a nonprofit working to find solutions to various challenges facing northeast Oklahoma City residents, held a career day program for a group of young people serving as interns.

Asa Williams, 16, a third-year RestoreOKC intern, said he has always wanted to pursue a career in agricultural science but he learned about so many other career paths during the recent program. He said he may choose to pursue one of those career fields and he is definitely going to look for ways to find out more about them.  

“To say the least, I think I really appreciated it. It’s given me a new change of pace,” he said of the career event.

Ann Miller, Ph.D., RestoreOKC’s farms director, coordinated the event. It included 17 professionals from the community who spoke to the interns as a group, then took time to speak to many of them one-on-one.

Dr. Ann Miller introduces Oklahoma City Councilwoman Nikki Nice  during a career day event for summer interns at RestoreOKC in northeast Oklahoma City.

RestoreOKC was started in 2016 as a Christian community development organization on a mission to help residents living in the 73111 ZIP code, which has been described as a food desert, an area lacking access to healthy foods. The 73111 ZIP code, a predominantly Black area of Oklahoma City, is generally bounded by NE 16 on the south and Wilshire Boulevard on the north, between N Kelley Avenue and Interstate 35. The group has been one of the leading organizations successfully working to obtain access to healthy foods for residents through new grocery stores and markets.  

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