As the student in charge of Fisher Impact Day 2021, Ellie Jadrych had unique insight into how the annual day of service would look this year. But as any good leader should be, Jadrych is just as committed to ensuring the tradition only gets better for future Fisher students.

Under Jadrych’s leadership, Fisher Impact Day 2021 connected nearly 500 Fisher students with opportunities to serve community organizations locally and around the country. And for the second consecutive year, the day of service was expanded to a full week of student-led, in-person and virtual service opportunities.

“This has allowed us to partner with more nonprofits and participate in a larger variety of philanthropies,” said Jadrych, a fourth-year marketing student. “This also allows students to find an organization they are personally passionate about and learn about many more nonprofits in the Columbus area. With a virtual component, students can also now participate from anywhere. No matter where you live, you can still make an impact by volunteering with a nonprofit local to you or by making a monetary donation to a non-profit of your choosing.”

With participation in on-campus service opportunities this year capped to comply with health and safety guidelines set forth by the university, 235 students chose to spend their Veterans Day holiday serving a number of local organizations:

• Working with My Very Own Blanket, students made more than 130 blankets for children in foster care
• Students wrote more than 260 letters and notes of appreciation to veterans by partnering with the organization, BRAVE
• Students coordinated more than 260 donations to the Buckeye Food Alliance
• Students created more than 260 dog toy gift bags for the Columbus Humane Society
• Students made 60 clothing donations for Goodwill Columbus

“While this signature event has certainly changed since our inaugural Fisher Impact Day in 2015, its mission and purpose has remained constant: leadership in service to our community,” said Anil K. Makhija, dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business. “I am proud of our students’ commitment to social responsibility and to making our communities and our world better places. This dedication to service is fundamental to their development as leaders.”

For Jadrych, the past two Fisher Impact Day events have demonstrated how students’ creativity and willingness to serve their communities in new and unique ways can build on and expand the ultimate goal of the event. That, coupled with potential support from companies that might be interested in helping students give back to the community, could help ensure Fisher Impact Day continues to deliver on its promise.

“I feel very fortunate to be an Ohio State student and to have an abundance of opportunities to grow as a leader and to give back the Columbus community,” she said. “I hope that future service days incorporate a virtual aspect because it only expands the impact we can have on the community. It would also be great to have an official corporate partner who we can learn from and work with while planning Impact Day.”