Guest blogger Amanda Danforth is our summer intern. She was kind enough to let us in on why she has been kind enough to intern with us two years in a row.

Hey, it’s the intern here. I just got asked to write a blog post about what I’m doing here. This is my second summer interning at UWKC, and it’s the second summer that my salary is exactly zero dollars an hour. I almost got a pay cut at the beginning of this summer because I was informed that I would no longer receive a free bus pass, but I ended up getting one after all. I’m going to law school in under two months, and moving myself across the country to do so. Neither of those endeavors are cheap, and yet, I’m here, dedicating 25 hours a week, not getting paid, but definitely not being unappreciated.

I’m here because I love what I do. I’m here because, even if it means I take on a bit more debt to get through law school, United Way is a place I believe in, and it’s a place I want to be. When I came here last year, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I fell in love with my coworkers in the Brand Department, and I fell in love with the work we do. Because, at the end of the day, United Way is dedicated to helping those in our immediate area that desperately need that help.

Last year I worked with a group of kids that were from an organization called The Mockingbird Society. These kids were all homeless youth or transitioning from homelessness. They were all around my age, and I sat there and thought, what, other than the luck of circumstance and birth, what makes me different from these kids? Nothing. The stories from these kids were stories of bad homes and worse circumstances. They were things that could happen to anyone. They didn’t happen to me, but they could have. So I admire the work that United Way does because anyone could fall into the different categories of aid that United Way offers. A single disaster could put a family in danger of not meeting its basic, everyday needs. And United Way would help.

• I Live United because there are things more important than a paycheck.
• I Live United because I care about this community.
• I Live United because the people we serve can always use one more ally on their side.