Hannah Rossow is one of the amazing volunteers we have at The Joseph School, and at just 17 years old she has already made a huge impact in the lives of many others.

Her dad, Carl, became aware of TJS through our founder, Jim Bryson. After Carl’s first mission trip to Haiti, he told everyone about his experience. He and his wife, Cindy, were so inspired by the experience, they decided to gift their children a yearly sponsorship for a TJS student. “It wasn’t just about a child, but about philanthropy and understanding how that can play a role in their life. One of the greatest gifts you can give your kid is the gift of philanthropy.”

Years later, the Rossow family still sponsors students at The Joseph School. “We sponsor as a family. Each of us sponsor a student as a gift over the holidays.” One of Hannah’s favorite parts of this tradition is the joy and importance of being able to support someone, during the holidays especially, receiving the gift of a sponsorship and being able to change a child’s life.

Hannah was inspired by seeing how the donations were directly affecting the students and improving their lives. It wasn’t just a plan, the change they wanted to make was actually happening.

Hannah began working with education director Katie in November 2020. Hannah said “She had a huge file of all the kids and the crafts they’ve collected over the years. She sent [me] a huge box of all the photos and crafts.”

Hannah was key in helping develop a communication program for sponsors. This includes letters containing updates about the school, sending arts and crafts from the students, and assisting in the creation of a “sponsor welcome packet” which will be going out to all sponsors over the next couple of months. Her goal is finding ways for the sponsors to be more connected to the students.

Hannah wishes more people knew about The Joseph School, the amazing things it does and the difference it’s making. “If we had more sponsors, we would really be able to help more kids in Haiti.” 

Her suggestion to anyone thinking about getting involved is to “visit The Joseph School’s website and really look into the mission and explore the importance of the nonprofit. Anything you can do to help makes a difference no matter how big or small.”

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About Hannah: Hannah is a junior in High School. She lives in Denver Colorado with her parents and younger brother. While Hannah is interested in pre-med, she believes that “a big part of patient care and being in the health world is having great communication skills and having a great plan for everyone.”