Freshman MISH representative Alexa Murphy takes her passion for community service farther than the school setting. Every week, she spends time helping fourth graders with homework and raises awareness about autism unemployment. Murphy also recently earned a Silver Award in Girl Scouts, a prestigious honor given to those who tackle a meaningful issue in their community. 

Murphy has delivered food and toys to those in-need through Neighbor’s Link for the past few years and wanted to further her involvement in the organization by volunteering at Learning Links, a program that assists underprivileged children with homework after school. 

The pandemic caused Learning Links to shift to a full remote schedule and the Bedford School District has thus provided Chromebooks to the students, which allows them to be able to connect with their tutor online. 

Murphy specifically mentioned that participation has been down drastically, since the majority of the children have multiple siblings who are also in classes just a few feet away from them.   

“A lot of the time, you won’t get cameras or you’ll have kids that aren’t able to turn on their mics to answer questions. It’s really difficult trying to get kids to listen and get really involved with the lesson when it’s virtual,” she said. 

With all that set aside, Murphy still finds joy in seeing the growth of the children for which she works closely.

“It’s such a rewarding experience to help these kids and to work with them and see what incredible people they are, even if they’re so young,” she said.

Additionally, Murphy raises awareness for autism through her work with Luv Michael, a non-profit organization based in New York City that provides training, education and the opportunity of employment to those on the autism spectrum. 

Almost 90% of adults with autism are unemployed, but Luv Michael offers jobs as “granologists” where they produce organic, gluten-free and nut-free granola. 

“They want volunteers to spark a conversation about adults with autism and the problem with unemployment. You get to advocate on your own social media and can help them [Luv Michael] with their own social media page,” Murphy said. 

The organization employs adults with autism across the globe, and every Wednesday, Murphy has the chance to speak with the people for which she advocates.

“Before [the pandemic] you would have gotten to visit the [adults] in-person, but now we do it over Zoom calls, which is really cool because you get to meet people from all around the world,” she said.

Once Luv Michael’s allows for in-person events and meetings, Murphy said she would like to fundraise on a larger scale and take trips to Luv Michael’s headquarters in New York City to visit the granologists. 

Both Learning Links and Luv Michael are two causes that Murphy feels especially passionate about, and urges others to get involved in volunteer work.

“The more you do it [volunteer], the more you realize the impact you’re making. Do what you’re passionate about. Help with an organization that you care about,” she said.

NOTE: If you are interested in learning more about how you can get involved with either Learning Links or Luv Michael, email: alexa.murphy@mastersny.org.