Meet the interns!

Meet our spring interns, Aiyana McDonell and Senna Camp! Hailing from Hamilton College’s “Hamilton in New York City” program, this dynamic duo will be working with and learning from Grassroots Grocery until early May.  We’re thrilled to have them and we can’t wait for you to learn more about them!  

Aiyana is a sophomore majoring in Environmental Studies at Hamilton College. Coming from Syracuse, New York, she says spending her Spring semester in New York City has been an amazing experience! So far, she has enjoyed eating new cuisines (but her favorite will always be Mexican), attending performances at the Apollo and Signature theaters, and window shopping on the Lower East Side. 

With Grassroots Grocery, Aiyana primarily works on increasing our social media presence. She also assists with hosting our Produce Parties and Sandwich Races - a lot of the recent pictures you see from these events were taken by her! Additionally, she spends time with us at the Hunts Point Produce Market to pick out pallets for distribution. Hunts Point is an important place to Aiyana because her Dad’s family lived there from the 80’s up to the 2000’s. 

Aside from her work, Aiyana loves to watch and play basketball, and is hoping to catch a Knicks game during her time in the city. On campus, Aiyana is a part of Hamilton’s Plant Club (we talk about and plant greenery), Hamilton Harvest (a dining hall food rescuing club), and is on an Intramural Basketball team. She works as a ball girl for multiple varsity sports and as an informations assistant for Hamilton’s Women’s and Men’s Varsity Basketball teams. Also, she is a research assistant for the Head of the Geoscience department at Hamilton College. 

Aiyana’s passion is researching new ways to limit our environmental impact and learn more about the intersections of identity within the environmental movement. After this semester is finished Aiyana is looking for summer internships, and starting to research graduate school programs based on sustainability (and other related topics). 

At Hunts Point Market!

Senna lives in Worcester, Massachusetts and is a sophomore at Hamilton College. She is a recently declared Environmental Studies major and is specifically interested in food justice and agriculture. As part of her spring semester spent in New York City, she is working as an intern with Grassroots Grocery, where she is learning invaluable skills such as social media management and grant writing. 

In New York City, Senna loves the variety of food options – from rice noodles in Chinatown to sweet potato pie at Sylvia’s. It is certainly a change from having one sushi place and one Indian place in the little town in upstate New York where Hamilton College is located! However, for her, the most fulfilling part about being in New York City is learning about food insecurity and being part of the solution.

When she’s not running around at a Produce Party or scheduling an Instagram post, you’ll find her curled up with a cup of tea and a good book. She recently read Fevered Star from the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, and is impatiently awaiting the last book in the series. Senna enjoys horseback riding for fun and is part of the equestrian team on campus. She also recently helped to start a club at her college called Hamilton’s Closet, which uses donations from students and staff to host thrifting pop-ups and promote slow fashion. 

Senna is not sure what she wants to do in the future, but is certain she wants to keep improving the food system and working with cool people!