St. Anne’s-Belfield School student launches Charlottesville nonprofit Instagram

When St. Anne’s-Belfield School senior Madi Glaser began a three-week internship with The Haven, a multi-resource day center in downtown Charlottesville, she had no idea that it would lead to the creation of her own community resource.

“There are endless organizations, opportunities, and people involved in community service in Charlottesville. I didn’t realize until this internship how easy it was to connect with them,” Glaser said. “There are just so many, and there’s not one place you can go to find all of them. That’s the reason I did my Instagram, Aware & Act. With more awareness the closer the Charlottesville community can come together and work as a team.”

Launched in December, Aware & Act (@awareandact) is Glaser’s Instagram account dedicated to highlighting service opportunities throughout the area.

“My Instagram is really my happy place right now,” she said. “I work about forty-five minutes per post, and I just try to post any upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, fundraisers, absolutely anything that will bring people together.”

In the future, Glaser hopes that community organizations will begin reaching out to her with more information and that she can expand Aware & Act into multiple platforms including a website, YouTube channel, and Twitter account. When she sets off for college, she plans to continue working on the Charlottesville Aware & Act but also create one in her new hometown.

“”I hope that eventually we can have these Instagrams in all communities, and then a global one that can spread more and more information,”she said. “I see a lot of hope in that, I hope it grows.”