Who else but the amazing Britta Galanis would be able to contribute over nine years of community service without breaking a sweat? Britta, a fun loving, generous, and compassionate eighteen year old is finishing up her first semester as a senior at Ipswich High School, and has a lot on her plate. With college right around the corner, Britta, like many seniors, is starting to feel the stress and pressure that comes with applying to college. However, Britta manages to keep her smile and sanity by helping out in the local community through our school’s very own Interact Club.

Last year, Britta was voted in as the clubs 2013-2014 President, and has done an outstanding job ever since. She manages all of the clubs community service activities with help from her other club officers including the Blood Drive, the Jingle Bell Walk, the Polar Plunge, a trip to the United Nations in New York City, and the “Do Good Bus.” In the past, Britta has also helped fund and organize the placement of the Peace Pole outside of our very own school, to represent the concepts of peace, unity, and togetherness. The pole stands about seven feet tall with the word “peace” written in many different languages on the outside.

If being the President of Interact Club wasn’t enough, Britta finishes her senior year off with a bang by also getting involved in our school’s Environmental Club. Environmental Club works to improve the environment in our community, by enforcing recycling and proper disposal at our school, planting trees in local areas of town, and overall restoring our local environment back to health. Like many other students at Ipswich High School, Britta enjoys helping others, but what separates her from most students is the fact that her service doesn’t stop after she exits the building doors.

Luckily, community service isn’t something Britta has to go looking for, it comes naturally to her and her family. Every year around Christmas time, Britta and her mom help the organization, Ipswich Caring, make Christmas tags with the names of underprivelged children in the community on them, and what they want for Christmas. After the gifts are donated, Britta and her mom help sort the gifts into piles by age and gender, and then wrap them in wrapping paper to be delivered for Christmas.

Britta and her mom also help out with Ipswich Caring at the end of the summer in a school supplies drive, by collecting school supplies and sorting it all out to be distributed to local families who can’t afford to buy school supplies for their children. Britta is very lucky to have a family who is as passionate about helping others as she is, and who can enjoy the wonderful experience of community service together.

I had the chance to talk with Britta about her efforts and contributions to the community, but what I was most interested in was how her passion for service came about. Britta first encountered the idea of community service in fourth grade, when she joined the Doyon Elementary School’s Early Act club, but it wasn’t until last year that Britta felt truly “inspired.”

When asked the question, did anything inspire you to start getting involved?, Britta responded by saying, “the inspiration never really hit me until last summer when I read the book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The story these authors composed about the rights of women in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa really spoke to me.” I concluded the interview by asking Britta what she plans on doing next; her response was, “studying international humanitarian studies if I get into my top college, or international studies, or communications.”

Upon graduation, Britta will certainly be remembered for her generous community service efforts and the positive differences she has made in our local community.