The path to this year’s Global Impact partnership started close to home.
Earlier this year, AMSG organized a volunteer day at Arcadia Farms. Our team spent the day preparing soil, cutting weeds, and harvesting fresh vegetables as part of Arcadia’s ongoing local food mission. Jim’s daughter had previously volunteered with Arcadia, which led to the opportunity for AMSG employees to get involved.
That day, we met Juan Pablo (JP), a staff member at Arcadia who served as our tour guide. In casual conversation, JP shared that he was originally from Guatemala. At the same time, Jasmin had already been exploring Guatemala as a potential destination for our next Global Impact trip. When JP mentioned his background, Jasmin and Jim asked if they could speak with him further.
After the volunteer work wrapped up, JP and Jasmin sat down over lunch to discuss the possibility of a connection. Jasmin explained that we were looking for a non-profit partner in Guatemala, one experienced with hosting American volunteers and focused on building up the next generation of leaders. JP was excited to help and offered to reach out to his network to identify organizations that might be a good fit.
A few weeks later, JP provided us with a list of three strong organizations. Jasmin and Zach reviewed each one and scheduled interviews to learn more.
While all three organizations were doing important work, two had a primary focus on medical missions. As valuable as that is, we recognized that medical care was not the right fit for AMSG’s team members or our approach to service. Global Impact is built around offering unskilled, hands-on support that helps local organizations advance the work they are already doing, not to provide specialized services. We believe in serving as extra hands where they’re needed most.
When we met with WellKind’s Shad and Michelle, their passion for their work was immediately clear. Shad shared WellKind’s mission, program design, and community-driven approach in a way that strongly aligned with our Global Impact values. The more we learned, the more confident we became that WellKind would be the right partner for this year’s trip.
Among many projects, this year’s team will support tree planting efforts, which offers a new and meaningful experience compared to past Global Impact trips. After working with a children’s day center in Kenya and helping build a school in Honduras, Guatemala gives our team the chance to serve in a different way while still supporting the next generation.
We are looking forward to launching this new partnership with WellKind and sharing more about the work once the team returns from Guatemala.
Written by Our Global Impact Team