WASHINGTON - Kirsten Lodal got an early start when it comes to making a difference. And while ABC 7's Working Woman knows she is making a difference in D.C. neighborhoods, she says there is still a long way to go.
"Here we work with some of the most impoverished families in this city and you literally can see the Capitol building if you step outside," Lodal said.
She co-founded the program LIFT when she was a sophomore at Yale. LIFT uses college student volunteers to help guide needy families out of poverty, by accessing social services and finding long-term employment and housing.
Lodal says college students are the perfect volunteers.
"The incredible talent students have -- their tech savvy, their willingness to work the system, their idealism -- {if you can} bottle it up and deploy it on behalf of families in the community, you could make a big impact," she said.
Lodal says LIFT has helped 30,000-40,000 people across the East Coast in the last ten years. But this year they are seeing families who have never needed to ask for help in the past.
"It's been a hard year for everyone in this country, needless to say, and for us we've seen just this incredible spike in demand for our services, but also a different demographic of families needing help," Lodal said.
Lodal was just named one of Greater D.C. Care's class of change winners for her philanthropy and volunteerism. She says she can't imagine more fulfilling or challenging work.
"I realize how rare it is to have the chance to live every hour of my day with purpose so I really couldn't imagine doing anything else," Lodal said.
