High Schoolers for Front Liners.INC has officially been recognized as a non-profit 501(3)(c) organization! After over six months of waiting, HSFL has finally been able to achieve a non-profit status.
We sent in our application in December of 2020 and were able to receive guidance from some parent volunteers to fill out the necessary paperwork. We are so excited to announce this to the rest of our team!
Though it may seem like a small step, this is a tremendous opportunity for our organization to grow its credibility. From the very beginning of our formation, HSFL has always been discredited because we are a student-led team. Our volunteers mostly consist of middle and high students and as a result, many adults discount the work that we invest. Especially in the beginning and during our first steps, many parents would question every managerial decision I would make including times for delivery dates, hospitals I was reaching to, and even what I would say during our biweekly Zoom Meetings.
While we are always extremely grateful for the support we have received from so many parents, it is hard to deny the doubt I felt parents had for each one of our volunteers. I believe reaching a non-profit status is one step to breaking this mentality, which is why it is such a meaningful experience to me. It is our visible and, quite literally, a legal stamp of approval that we are an accredited organization that is bringing good to our community.
I fully believe this to be true. This month, our team has been able to donate nearly 500 masks – adding to nearly 20,000 masks in total since our origin. We’ve branched out to other facilities as well including new detention centers and non-profits. I am proud to say that each member of our non-profit has invested so much of their energy and time to save people’s lives by providing protective gear.
Looking to the future, I sincerely hope that being a non-profit will give us the opportunity to expand, capture the interest of other volunteers, and bring in new partnership opportunities with larger organizations. I am excited to see what we can do!
Written by Allison Moon
May 21st, 2021