Lanre Faderin, Youth Leadership Grant Recipient

Lanre Faderin
Glenelg Country School, Maryland

Project Update

Thanks to Lanre’s hard work, along with many other sophomores and juniors at Glenelg Country School, the fruit and vegetable stand for the Howard County Food Bank has been successfully constructed.

Lanre is currently working to develop another project with the remainder of her grant money. She plans to create a garden that grows primarily vegetables in a small school in Niger and South Africa. She is working in collaboration with her church and with her aunt, who lives in Niger, to finalize the project.

Fruit and Vegetable Stand at the Howard County, MD Food Bank Gardens

Lanre Faderin was born in Baltimore, MD and is currently a junior at Glenelg Country School. From a young age, she has always been driven by compassion to help others and make a positive difference in her community. Inspired by the humanitarian works of her church, at the age of 12 Lanre began seeking volunteer opportunities with organizations which supported causes she felt strongly about. Her first volunteer opportunity was with Athelas Institute in Columbia, MD, a non-profit organization that inspires and enriches the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities.  At the time she was too young to serve as a full term and independent volunteer within the organization, so instead Lanre took the opportunity to aid the Athelas Institute in another way: she served as an assistant to the Event Coordinator.  From Athelas Institute, Lanre moved on to volunteer with other organizations such as the St. Barnard Project, the American Red Cross, Grass Roots and Restoration center. With many more projects to come, the future looks bright for Lanre as she will continue to share her service with, and beyond her community.

Essay and Project Summary

My essay is about the three women Yocheved, Mary, and Khadija and the compassion they showed through their courage and faith. My proposed project is to raise awareness about hunger and malnutrition in my community by constructing a fruit and vegetable stand in the three Food Bank Gardens in my county.

Reflection

Writing about the importance of women in the three Abrahamic faiths and how they emphasized compassion in the foundation of each of the religions was a learning experience for me. Once I began my research, I was astonished by how much impact Yocheved, Mary, and Kadija each had on their religion. For instance I never knew that Khadija was the very first Muslim convert. After participating in this program, I now have a better understanding of the foundations of all three Abrahamic faiths.