Sara Schaecher is (basically) a life-long Chapel Hill resident! After starting elementary school at Frank Porter Graham Bilingue during their very first cohort of Spanish-immersion students, she graduated from UNC Chapel Hill and spent a year teaching English in Northern Spain. Now, she works for a neural-engineering lab at UNC and spends her free time reading, dancing, crocheting, and volunteering with PORCH!
Blog
Volunteer Highlight: Sara Schaecher
When did you start volunteering with PORCH?
I started volunteering with PORCH briefly in 2021 with my grandma, helping sort food, fill grocery bags, and put them in cars. I took a break for a while between going to college and moving abroad for a year, but came back in 2025 to the brand new PORCH Hub and have been volunteering regularly with my sister ever since!
How did you hear about PORCH?
Growing up in Chapel Hill, I always knew about PORCH as a general organization, as my neighborhood is a donor neighborhood, but I fully thought it was a large-scale, national program. I didn’t realize it was a local group until my grandmother started volunteering there after hearing about it from some of her friends and neighbors. She brought me along to volunteer with her and then my sister as well.
What is your favorite part about volunteering with PORCH?
Amidst such a confusing and complicated time in the rest of the world, there is something enjoyably simple and tangible about showing up to a cause that I care about, with people who are energetic and happy to be there, working together to accomplish a goal of helping people, and seeing results in families going home with full bags of food. It feels like there’s so much I, as one single person, can’t change about the world, but I can show up to volunteer at the market and get some families some groceries.
Is there a role at PORCH that you’re an absolute pro at?
Probably working the backstock for the markets. It’s what I started doing first at the Hub and I feel like I’ve gotten used to the organization and flow back there. And, of course, it’s so fun getting to talk to the little kids and watch them light up if we have their absolute favorite brand of snack or cereal.
How does volunteering in general fit into your life?
It’s fun because everyone in the PORCH Hub is so energetic and happy to be there. I get to build my interpersonal skills and keep up my Spanish skills. And it’s been great meeting all the other volunteers and families to feel like I know more people in my community. It’s also been a nice family activity–I have been volunteering with my sister when she is home from college and it’s great having something we can do together.