Elizabeth Haberstroh, C’18
ACE Internship: Bread for the World
31 August 2016
Bread for the World: Washington, D.C.
This past summer of 2016, I took the initiative of packing up my belongings and moving
to a new city to intern for Bread for the World to gain experience and new perspectives of the
world around us. I could not be happier or more thankful for my time spent living on my own
working for what I am passionate about: hunger and poverty relief both domestically and
internationally. My world views have been broadened and stretched with an awareness of the
blatant and rampant issues caused by hunger and malnutrition due to poverty with little
opportunity for change without necessary aid through legislation. My views of government are
more personal having had a full day to lobby and speak with my Alabama representatives and
senators about issues that Bread is fighting for. As a math and art history double-major at
Sewanee, I am thankful to have had the chance to explore the field of non-profits and advocacy
by interning for Bread for the World.
I arrived in Washington, D.C. in late May to begin my six-week internship completely
alone and never having stepped foot in D.C. The chance to step outside of my comfort zone and
navigate an unfamiliar city and metro rail system on my own turned out to be as beneficial as my
experience working for Bread. I have a new confidence and assuredness in being responsible for
myself and have a better understanding of what life will look life after graduation (I am also now
an excellent grocery shopper!). I luckily found housing with a friend from high school on George
Washington University’s campus only a few blocks away from the Foggy Bottom metro stop. I
worked from 9AM until 5PM Monday through Thursday which allotted me a generous amount
of free time to explore D.C. and visit museums, monuments, and other public attractions. One of
my most cherished privileges was the abundance of trails to run alongside the Potomac River and
throughout the District.
The most impactful experience of my time working for Bread was what is called Lobby
Day. Lobby Day comes once a year, hosting members of the Bread community from across the
country to come together and prepare for meeting representatives and senators, discussing tactics
and gathering personal stories about the effects of hunger and success in reducing poverty due to
government aid. Lobby Day was incredibly empowering; all day we met with our members of
Congress to advocate for or against certain pieces of legislation which affect the poor and hungry
both domestically and globally. Lobby Day helped me see that our members of Congress are
simply human beings here to listen to our concerns. I gained confidence within myself by
gathering the courage to speak directly to our nation’s leaders about issues that I am passionate
about. My team of Alabama constituents (and with the accompaniment and help of former
Alabama Senator Spencer Bachus) were all incredibly dedicated and helped guide me through
such an extensive and powerful day on Capitol Hill.
Never before coming to intern for Bread had I worked within an office setting, however,
the community of the Development Department quickly welcomed me into the office and turned
the office setting into one of my favorite aspects of the internship. The first week in the office
was filled with meetings, interviews, and phone calls with every person in Development and also
with each donor representative across the county. The evident dedication of each member of
Bread’s Development team to the cause of ending world hunger was an inspiring and motivating
environment in which I was able to spend my summer.
My responsibilities as an intern in the Development Department allowed me to use my
background in mathematics through research and handling data on various database software
such as The Raiser’s Edge and Microsoft Excel. I worked flexibly, helping any office member
with tasks of organizing massive filing cabinets, copying, generating and mailing letters to
donors and members of the Bread community, updating charity rating organization website
information, and attending weekly meetings and phone conferences. My largest project which I
completed during the final week of my internship was assigned by my supervisor: to generate a
document of bills passed in Congress that Bread has supported and lobbied for over the past forty
years.
My time spent living on my own in D.C. was invaluable. I was able to simultaneously
work toward Bread’s mission of hunger relief while learning about the cause and effects of
hunger worldwide and also enjoyed all of what D.C. had to offer. My organizational,
communication, and interpersonal skills have become much stronger and I left with a new sense
of self confidence. I am grateful for one of the best summers I have had and look forward to
continue my advocacy for hunger and poverty relief.