GAMBIER – A two-year, $33,000 grant to Kenyon College’s Internship Program from the Knox County Foundation will fund student internships at nonprofit organizations.
According to a press release, the funding is meant to strengthen ties between students and the community. Kenyon College has placed 107 interns with 37 unique partners since the program’s inception in 2017.
“We have seen the success of the program over the past few years and are excited to see it grow and expand in the years to come,” Lisa Lloyd, program director at the Knox County Foundation, said in the release.
Jamie Lyn Smith-Fletcher, development and writing program manager at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, experienced firsthand the significant impact of the internship program at her organization.
“The library has engaged the skills of six interns in two high-profile, grant-funded projects,” Smith-Fletcher said. “It would be impossible for me to implement large-scale projects like this without the support of Kenyon interns.”
The nonprofit sector is one of the top fields Kenyon graduates choose for a career, according to Dean for Career Development Lee Schott.
“These internships provide Kenyon students with experiential opportunities to learn and apply transferable work skills to projects that have an impact in our community,” Schott said. “The internships also provide our community partners with additional staff support to achieve important goals related to their organizational missions.”
The college plans to extend the internship program across Knox County to help enhance the quality of life for children, families, victims of abuse, the elderly and all community members, the release said.
