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On most Sundays. Palmer Trinity School senior class president Griffin Siegel and his father volunteer at Coconut Grove Crisis Food Bank.
“We go to Whole Food Market and pick up food that is unsold,” he says. “It includes produce and prepared goods.”
At the food bank, he works with a group of women. He says he’s gained so much from volunteering with them.
“Each of them had something different to instill in me, to teach me,” he says.
The team he works with delivers the food that they have bagged and packed on Tuesdays.
“The food pantry is in a church,” he says. “They share the space. They have a list of a couple of hundred people. This food is delivered to those people around Coconut Grove. It’s a community outreach. I have been doing it since sophomore year. On and off, but I have tried to be consistent.”
Siegel chose to volunteer at the crisis food bank because it seemed special.
“The first day it didn’t feel like any other food pantry,” he says. “There was something special in the room. These ladies come every Sunday. They are always there. We are working together for the good of our community. I know it has made a lasting impact on the community. The pantry has been going on for 40 years. It’s incredible.”
He started volunteering through his role in the organization Students Offering Support (SOS). He’s no longer in SOS but he continues to volunteer in the food kitchen.
“My dad and I decided to do it together,” he says. “And then my entire family joined. We all fell in love with it.”
At school, Siegel plays golf and lacrosse. This year the golf team did well, placing second in the district championship.
Now he’s in the midst of lacrosse season. It’s a rebuilding year since a large number of seniors graduated last year.
His role in student government included being Spirit Chair in ninth grade and now he’s the class president.
“I’m making our senior year memorable,” he says. “I’ve loved being able to help my classmates with everything they need. It’s been very rewarding for me.”
Siegel says he’s enjoyed traveling and global scholarship.
“I joined Model United Nations,” he says. “I’m on the secretariat. I lead conferences with my fellow classmates.”
Sophomore year he traveled to Portugal. That Lisbon conference included 2000 students.
“My junior year I was able to apply for a trip to the Netherlands, at the Hauge,” he says.
“This club has given me the opportunity to not only learn about the world but learn about the world’s issues. It gave me the opportunity to learn that I enjoy speaking up in front of people.”
Siegel says he has a passion for global citizenship.
“My sophomore year I was able to apply for a 10-week exchange program to Spain,” he says. “I was accepted.”
Through that program, he welcomed a student from a town in Madrid who lived with him for ten weeks.
That December he traveled to Spain for ten weeks.
“It was such an incredible experience,” he says. “It opened my eyes to a new world.”
Siegel participates in the leadership of the Round Square program. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society, the National Spanish Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society. Last year he won the St. George Medal of Global Leadership.
Siegel’s college list includes the University of Virginia, Tulane, Northeastern, the University of Michigan, the University of Florida and Boston College. He plans to major in Economics.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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