20 UNDER 20

In the midst of the pandemic, Darren Chase and Ariana Jones started Socializing for Senior Citizens, a non-profit organization that aims to connect teens and young adults with senior citizens who have experienced physical and emotional isolation during the height of the pandemic. The students recruited classmates to check in and connect with seniors using Zoom, phone calls, FaceTime, emails, cards, and more. As of November, Socializing for Senior Citizens had held 169,915 minutes of calls and sent 9,734 emails and cards. The duo also served on the student committee that helped Galloway earn a No Place for Hate School designation two years in a row. “When my friend Ariana and I decided to start our non-profit, we had no idea the impact we would have on both the community and our own lives,” Darren said. “One of my favorite experiences with the non-profit was how close I got to one of my seniors. I soon started calling him twice a week and eventually took socially distanced, masked walks with him.” Ariana said the disregard for senior citizens had always angered her, and the pandemic motivated her to act. “While I have been and still am a part of many organizations and movements to fight for change, I had never started one myself. Starting this non-profit and seeing its success helped me realize that I am much more capable of being a leader than I thought I could be.”