Internship Grows Plants and Capacity!
Mason Lightfritz selling produce from his Market Garden at the River City Farmer’s Market in Marietta, Ohio
By Heather Warner, GoPacks Director
The nonprofit GoPacks takes a two-step approach to fight food insecurity. After providing students with nutritious food, they look to increase their resources and support networks. This is done through many venues, including classes, workshops, and now – internships! It can be hard to plan for the future with all of the craziness of everyday life. Add the layer of uncertainty that food insecurity brings and career planning can easily fall off the radar. However, an internship that pays now while allowing freedom to explore career options, well, that can be a game changer!
GoPacks and Building Bridges to Careers have been collaborating together for years, so when an opportunity to employ high school interns through BB2C arose, it was a no-brainer. The internships would allow GoPacks to increase their capacity by creating personalized internships for high school students that let them research potential careers. The interns would focus on what is needed to work in a potential field of their choice, what local opportunities are available in that field, and what that profession provides to the community.
The first high school intern to work for GoPacks was Mason Lightfritz, a freshman at Marietta High School. Mason has a love for gardening, so an internship that explored career possibilities with plants was a perfect fit. Marcus McCartney, OSU Extension educator, and GoPacks collaborator, guided Mason in researching Market Gardens. Mason then grew his own Market Garden! The garden allowed him first hand experience of the challenges and rewards that local farmers experience. The final step of his internship was to sell his produce at the local farmer’s market. The internship was a perfect community collaboration, with BB2C, GoPacks, OSU Extension and Mason all investing their time and resources in the present and the future. Perhaps the seeds have been planted for the next big Mid-Ohio Valley Market Garden!