A Sophomore on a Mission

It was the first day back from winter break, and Carly Grizzaffi ’21 exuded positive energy and excitement as she called on her peers to join her in experiencing the joy of giving back.

Carly stood in front of the entire Upper School community during MISH’s Tuesday meeting on January 8 and shared information on the organization she recently co-founded: Mission Possible, whose goal is to repair and maintain the houses of local senior citizens, veterans and families in need of a helping hand.

The idea came to Grizzaffi during a week-long service trip she took with Appalachia Service Project in June 2018, where she helped to repair the homes of residents in the Appalachian region of the United States. “It is so rewarding to see how much you can impact someone’s life,” said Grizzaffi about the experience. “I wanted to get that same feeling more than just once a year.”

Upon returning to New York, Grizzaffi partnered with two women who also went on the service trip, and together they formed Mission Possible. The need for the organization’s services is definitely there, said Grizzaffi. “A lot of [people] in the local area don’t have family nearby, and can’t really afford to get all of these necessities, like fixing their house, so we wanted to provide that to them.”

Mission Possible, which is associated with the United Methodist Church at Shrub Oak, had its first service day on October 20, 2018, during which a group of 30 volunteers worked on four projects, which included cleaning a house, doing yard work, and building a playset for children. Grizzaffi noted that her favorite memory from the day was seeing a little girl playing on the playset they had just constructed. “She was so happy,” Grizzaffi said. “It was amazing.”

Mission Possible will have another day of service in the spring, and Grizzaffi hopes that members of the Masters community will be inspired to volunteer with her, and that they will get the same joy she experiences when she gives back. “It’s so rewarding and you do it once and you can’t stop,” she shared. “You just want to help people more and more.”

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