Sponsor banner
Inspire Atlanta

Everyday Heroes: Sierra Bastis

UGA intern helps reduce older adults’ wait for food, with calls, chats and cups of tea
Sierra Bastis, a 22-year-old University of Georgia student and an intern at the Athens Community Council on Aging, prepares groceries for older adults in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. In Georgia, 11% of adults over 60 live in poverty and 8.3% are food insecure, according to Georgia’s Division of Aging Services. (Photo Courtesy of Lilly Kersh)
Sierra Bastis, a 22-year-old University of Georgia student and an intern at the Athens Community Council on Aging, prepares groceries for older adults in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. In Georgia, 11% of adults over 60 live in poverty and 8.3% are food insecure, according to Georgia’s Division of Aging Services. (Photo Courtesy of Lilly Kersh)
By Lilly Kersh, Covering Poverty
Dec 17, 2023

The nearly 300 older adults that Sierra Bastis, a 22-year-old University of Georgia student, serves through her internship at the Athens Community Council on Aging are more than numbers on a spreadsheet. She knows many of them by name, knows their stories and knows what day of the month they can expect a bag of groceries through the council’s Senior Staples program.

Bastis studies health promotion with a minor in disaster management and plans to graduate in December. Originally from Dallas, Georgia, she started working at the council in May through the AmeriCorps VISTA program, which connects members with community organizations that alleviate poverty.

When the summer position ended, she stayed on as an unpaid intern. In addition to school and her two other jobs, one on campus and one as a waitress, Bastis works about 20 hours a week at the council.

Sierra Bastis, 22, from Dallas, Georgia poses for a portrait at the Athens Community Council on Aging in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Bastis is a public health student at the University of Georgia who works as an intern at the Athens Community Council on Aging to fight food insecurity in Athens. (Photo Courtesy of Samantha Hurley)
Sierra Bastis, 22, from Dallas, Georgia poses for a portrait at the Athens Community Council on Aging in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Bastis is a public health student at the University of Georgia who works as an intern at the Athens Community Council on Aging to fight food insecurity in Athens. (Photo Courtesy of Samantha Hurley)

Senior Staples delivers about a week’s worth of free groceries once a month to adults over 60 who have difficulty driving to get food. The council took on the program from the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia in January 2023.

Bastis spends most of her time on the phone with clients, assessing their needs and matching them with the right program. When she started working on the program, the waitlist for Senior Staples had more than 100 names. Through her work, the waitlist was cleared by November.

She said some clients call expecting to be put on the waitlist for Senior Staples. Now, when a client calls the council to get groceries, they can often get their first delivery within two weeks.

“Food is such a basic right,” Bastis said. “If I can help (clients) have access to stable food, then I will do it. I will call whoever I need to as many times as I need to. So, I think that’s kind of what makes me keep going.”

Volunteers deliver on around nine routes every Tuesday to serve the Senior Staples clients. The deliveries also serve as important points of contact to check on their health and wellbeing to make sure they are OK.

“It’s a very big deal that they see the person receiving the meal,” Bastis said. “Because we’re not only just delivering.”