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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

Community Fellows Blog Posts

Casey Clay: A Charitable Journey

Casey reminisces about his journey so far at Catholic Charities.
LSB Community Fellows 2019-20

It’s hard to believe that my fellowship Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County (CCSCC) is coming to an end. I feel very grateful to have worked with such a supportive and fun loving team. Almost nine months and one pandemic later, I have learned a lot on this year’s nonprofit journey.

My favorite experience came when I was asked to plan out a promotional video for CCSCC’s after school learning program called CORAL. As someone with a passion and an interest in film, I was able to see what a potential career looked like as a videographer. I was tasked with researching impact statistics for the program, writing a shot list, compiling interview questions from our staff, organizing locations to film at, and scheduling interviews with important personnel. On the day of the shoot, I got to help set up film equipment and even conducted the interviews myself, including one with the Superintendent of the school district. I was super nervous at first, but by the end I got in a groove and enjoyed the process. The CORAL video shoot was by far my proudest moment of my internship so far. It was definitely a struggle to plan everything on such short notice but seeing it all come together on the day of the shoot was so rewarding. 

One of the most valuable lessons I will take away from my experience is what charity actually means. When I first heard the word ‘charity’ I thought about the canned food drives that were rampant throughout middle and high school or the times I gave an extra dollar to some cause at the grocery store checkout. I tended to associate ‘charity’ as a give and forget model. I’ve learned that in order to truly make changes in a person’s life, it takes an incredible amount of work. CCSCC maintains long term relationships with their clients for days, weeks, or even years after initial contact. A common theme across all of their programs is to provide clients with meaningful physical and educational resources so that they can lift themselves out of their difficult situations. CCSCC will be there at any step in their journeys out of poverty to check in and provide guidance. While it takes a ton of work, the results speak for themselves. Now more than ever, it’s important to check in on those who are struggling and work towards long-lasting change instead of one time solutions. 

NPI, NPI Fellows