14 Sep Héroes e Historias: Kaylen Miller

Eleven years ago, Kaylen Miller was searching for volunteer opportunities in the greater Portland area and came across Bienestar. “Their mission really resonated with me, and I reached out to Gracie, the Community Services Director,” Kaylen stated. After speaking with both Gracie and Karen Shawcross, former Executive Director, Kaylen felt welcomed and encouraged to create a project at the organization and was given the freedom to manage it. In that moment, she knew it was the perfect fit and was eager to start making an impact at Bienestar. Since Kaylen had several connections and resources in her network, she seized the opportunity to ask what critical needs Bienestar’s residents would benefit from. Both Gracie and Karen addressed that several kids living in the properties went to school with no backpacks or school supplies – sparking an idea, which led to the creation of the annual Back-to-School Fair. Since its inception, Kaylen has taken the lead in all fundraising efforts to gather school supplies and backpacks for hundreds of kids every year.  

One of her most memorable moments as a volunteer at Bienestar was at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service event. There were several stations set up within a community room and Kaylen set up a How-to-Crochet station to teach residents. There was an enthusiastic mother that sat down, eager to join the workshop. Kaylen provided instruction in Spanish, but due to her limited fluency, the enthusiastic mom graciously offered to translate. During an opportunity, the mom rushed to her apartment and brought back items she crocheted to show her. She displayed her table runners and baby dresses she created for her family in Mexico. “It was a sweet connection that we made,” Kaylen stated.  

A second noteworthy memory of hers was during one of the Back-to-School Fairs. A boy participating in the fair was the Big Prize Winner and won a 3-foot-tall bulky teddy bear. As you can imagine, the bear was taller than him, but that didn’t stop the child from gripping on to it as he joyfully walked away with a bright smile.   

What Kaylen’s working on now 

Kaylen is involved in Adopt-a-Family for the holiday season through Workday, her employer. This collaboration enables Kaylen and her coworkers to provide gifts, clothes, or any items a family needs during Christmas. Through her connection with Bienestar, she was able to determine two local families in need for this year.

In addition, she is gathering all donations made for the upcoming Back-to-School Drive and is preparing to deliver backpacks filled with school supplies to over 100 kids living in Bienestar properties.  

Kaylen’s biggest hope 

As Kaylen reflects, her biggest hope for the future of farmworkers and immigrants is for society to recognize them as highly valuable and crucial citizens. “Farmworkers engage in hard physical labor, and we should celebrate them, not condemn them for willing to do backbreaking work. There is a misconception that immigrants are taking our jobs, but that is simply not true.”