From Crayons to Council Meetings: Mia ’27’s Life with God’s Love We Deliver

When Mia ’27 was ten, she set up an impromptu “studio” at home and started selling drawings for a dollar apiece. She worked the way many young philanthropists do: quietly, from the living room, one neighbor and family friend at a time. By the end, she had raised about a hundred dollars. What might have been a new toy became something else entirely: Mia donated every dollar to God’s Love We Deliver. She didn’t frame it as anything remarkable at the time; it simply felt like the right place for the money to go.

Her choice linked a child’s first independent fundraiser to one of New York City’s most consequential hunger-and-health organizations. Founded in 1985 at the height of the AIDS crisis, God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD) has grown from one hospice worker delivering a few home-cooked meals to a citywide nonprofit preparing and home-delivering medically tailored meals—paired with nutrition counseling and support—at no cost to clients, their caregivers, and families.

That mission has long been part of the School’s service story. Students and families decorate thousands of meal bags that fill the Meetinghouse with color before heading out across the city; Friends teams join the Race to Deliver in Central Park; Middle Schoolers, still too young for kitchen shifts, volunteer outside of school hours stuffing hygiene kits and breakfast bags. For many students, including Mia, GLWD is one of the first places where they see, in tangible ways, how a local nonprofit can move the needle on both health and dignity.

She grew up inside that relationship. Service is deeply ingrained in her family’s daily life, and they have been involved with GLWD through kitchen shifts, advocacy, and leadership. The language of “meals,” “clients,” “routes,” and “readers” was familiar long before she stepped into these spaces in her own right. Her mother is also active with Reading Partners New York, a children’s literacy nonprofit that trains community volunteers to provide one-on-one, research-based reading support to elementary students in under-resourced schools—a commitment that recently inspired Mia to begin volunteering with the organization as well.

What changed, as she moved into Upper School, was her sense that young people could have a more defined role. Instead of creating something separate, she focused on reshaping what already existed—asking how a major citywide nonprofit might look different if young people were invited in as true partners. She began to see how much an organization can gain when they are at the table: broader reach, fresh ideas, and new ways of showing up in support.

As Mia was asking those questions, GLWD was launching its own experiment in youth leadership: the Young Hearts Leadership Council (YHLC), a rotating cohort of high school students dedicated to furthering the mission of God’s Love. Mia didn’t just join the program; she stepped into it as a builder and bridge—someone ready to test new ideas, bring in peers, and help define what meaningful youth leadership could look like for the organization. Over the summer, she applied with a clear sense of how more Friends students could be invited into the work and was welcomed into the inaugural 2025–26 cohort, taking on a role where listening, planning, and leading are all part of the work. The YHLC has also given her a formal framework for the kind of communications work she was already doing instinctively—rallying young volunteers and making fundraising feel accessible rather than intimidating.

“Mia is a thoughtful, motivating, and conscientious voice on the Council,” says Abby Deiss, Manager of Philanthropy, Engagement at GLWD. She notes that Mia’s long relationship with the organization and “the strong foundation that Friends Seminary imbued” have shaped her approach. “In this new capacity as a Young Hearts Leader, Mia has stepped confidently into the role of ambassador, taking on a leadership role in this year’s Ride for Love fundraiser, volunteering at the Young Hearts Cookie Decorating Party, and encouraging her friends to volunteer in our kitchen. She is a true ambassador and champion of our work, learning from the example of her family and school community. We’re so lucky to know leaders like Mia.”

Her own service remains anchored in the kitchen. On a typical volunteer shift, she’s in a hairnet and apron, working shoulder to shoulder with other volunteers as meals move from prep to packing. GLWD operates one of the largest nonprofit kitchens in New York; on any given day, volunteers help keep tens of thousands of meals moving toward clients’ homes. On cookie-decorating days, she is constantly in motion—refilling trays, helping younger volunteers navigate icing bags and sprinkles, and watching as children work hard to create designs that will brighten a client’s day. It is the kind of scene that brings together her love of hands-on work, community, and the simple idea that care can travel in many forms.

On campus, Mia has become a key connector for classmates who can’t yet volunteer in the kitchen. For the past two years, she has served as a liaison for Middle School “stuffing” events, partnering with the Parents Association and GLWD staff so that Grades 5–8 students have meaningful, age-appropriate ways to contribute. Last year, Middle Schoolers assembled hygiene kits to accompany meal deliveries; this year, they packed breakfast bags filled with shelf-stable items for clients and families. She coordinated logistics—timelines, supplies, communication—so younger students could focus on the work itself and the stories behind it.

All of this exists alongside a busy Upper School life. She swims for Friends, with meets beginning to stack up on the calendar. She plays piano and works at SoulCycle. When she learned about the Douglas Elliman Ride for Love—an annual cycling fundraiser that brings together outdoor riders and studio classes to support GLWD’s meals—it felt like a natural overlap: movement, community, and service in the same room.

Inspired by that model, Mia organized her own SoulCycle benefit ride. She approached a favorite instructor, secured a slot, and then did what teenage organizers do best: spread the word. She created and shared a short reel about why GLWD matters to her, invited friends and family to ride or donate, and encouraged those who couldn’t make it to fundraise on their own pages. Her posts were full of music, sweat, and laughter, and by the end, the ride had raised about $2,000 for GLWD and, just as importantly, had given her peers a template for how to connect their own interests to causes they care about.

Mia ’27’s story is not one of a single big gesture. It is, instead, a pattern of steady, thoughtful commitment that keeps widening the circle around her—bringing more classmates, families, and fellow New Yorkers into the work.

As GLWD, now in its 40th year, looks ahead—from its original Manhattan kitchen to a new chapter of growth; from the early days of the AIDS crisis to a client base that includes New Yorkers living with many different diagnoses—Mia is thinking about growth on a different scale. She wants to see more high school students, at Friends and beyond, at the table: volunteering, fundraising, serving on youth councils, and using their own feeds and friend networks to normalize service as something joyful and shared. Her younger sister, now in Grade 8, is already eager to join her.

In that sense, the one-dollar drawings weren’t just a first fundraiser. They were an early draft of the kind of philanthropic life Mia is building now—one rooted in proximity, collaboration, family example, and a belief that young people don’t have to wait to make a serious contribution to the city they call home.