COMMUNITY SERVICE: Gabrielle Fonrouge is more than just a journalism student at St. John’s University and president of the Society of Professional Journalists. She is also a major community service leader at Homes for the Homeless at the Saratoga Family Inn in Jamaica. She works with the adult program there which assists homeless adults in finding jobs so that they are one step closer to being off of the streets or out of shelters.
She also travels abroad to places such as Ecuador and Vietnam in the hopes of creating a sustainable service that can change lives. Her mantra is “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”
“I believe in justice and sustainable service,” said Fonrouge. “It is changing the systems and studying the systems and finding ways so that [people] no longer will be in these positions.”
BACKGROUND: Fonrouge is originally from a low income neighborhood in southern Florida. Growing up there, she made it her mission to assist people in reaching their potential through motivating them.
“I think some people just got off the right track because they do not have someone there motivating them, telling them that they can do it, telling them that they are worth it, all of these things. Those people will never go anywhere and I have watched it first hand, so that made me want to let people know that they do have a purpose, they do have a meaning and you will succeed if you try.”
FAVORITE MEMORY: On the final night of a three-week program in the Miguel Chiriap community of Ecuador, the group Fonrouge was with prepared an American feast and dressed in native garb and danced tribal dances.
“It was such a magical moment,” said Fonrouge. “We were underneath the stars, outside, the music was playing and nothing else was happening in the world at that moment. It was just us, the people we were serving and the music and dance.”
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “To truly commit yourself to community service and fully devote yourself, it means saying goodbye to yourself and the other people in your life, saying goodbye to your responsibilities, saying goodbye to your income, saying goodbye to all of that. You must put yourself and the ones you love second to those you serve.”
INSPIRATION: She finds inspiration through her passion for media and journalism by creating documentaries that focus on the underserved population and impoverished communities. She hopes to bring awareness to her subjects so that she can make a difference in their lives. “If the world doesn’t know a problem exists, it is never going to change and will always exist.”
NIKKI DJOKOVICH
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