Community Champion: Ria Patel
It’s time to recognize a community champion!
It’s an honor given to people making a positive impact in the community. It’s in partnership with Leaders Credit Union.
This month, we introduce you to Ria Patel, a student who isn’t letting her age stop her from making a difference and helping other kids along the way.
“Ria is one of the most fascinating and awesome young people in the Jackson-Madison County Schools,” said Jennifer Graves, the President of the Star Center.
While many high school seniors are busy getting ready for prom, graduation, and the start of college, Ria Patel is using her free time to give back by partnering with the Star Center to help local kids.
“I was introduced to the Star Center a really long time ago since my brother has Asperger’s. So my mom has come here a few times when I was really young. So it’s always kind of been there, and it’s a big program in Jackson. So it’s always kind of been in my life,” Patel said.
She created Ria’s Heart, which is a behavioral therapy art program for children who are on the autistic spectrum.
“I thought doing some kind of group work together and making it fun would give children a better opportunity to kind of interact with their peers and communicate through their art and through their words,” Patel said.
“For the last couple of years we have been without an art therapist. And Ria’s Heart has allowed that gap in our services to be filled,” Graves said.
Graves says the program is perfectly titled.
“And I love the name Ria’s Heart. It truly shares what she has done. This is who she is. She has stood in the gap for others who have struggled, and we’re so grateful to Ria and her family for all that they’ve done for the Star Center,” Graves said.
Patel said the art program has been rewarding, not only to the students, but to her as well.
“I think working with the kids was definitely the best part of this whole experience. Just watching them coming in the first time and being shy and being hesitant to speak, and then over the course of the classes, watching them just transform and really see their personalities shine. I think that was amazing, and it’s what made everything so much more like fun. And seeing them laugh and joke and just grow from these classes, it made it so much more rewarding,” she said.
During the pandemic, Patel took up baking, which she also saw as an opportunity to give back.
“I am teaching baking classes at the Scarlet Rope, which is the center that helps women who have suffered from domestic abuse. And it’s also equally as fun of a time. And I’m actually hoping, in the future, to incorporate that into the Ria’s Heart classes,” Patel said.
In addition to her volunteer work, Ria also works hard in the classroom, scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT.
Her hope is to attend NYU in the fall.
If you know someone doing good in their community, you can nominate them for the Community Champion Award here.
