Olentangy Local School District students Kyle Mayle, Rohan Batra, Naman Soni, Tanush Shankar, and Vahin Kakarla first started Team Impact back in 2021.

Team Impact is a 501(c)(3) government-registered nonprofit organization started by high schoolers for high schoolers. Its primary goal is to raise money for various charities through a multitude of fun fundraiser-style events. By hosting tournaments such as spikeball, volleyball, basketball, trivia, and more, members work to raise as much money as possible for our Team Impact Conference in April, in which all our team members can vote on where we donate the money we raise. Additionally, they collaborate with local organizations to provide valuable labor for our community facilities. From the City of Columbus Parks Department to the Worthington Resource Pantry and Common Ground Free Store, they ensure both our team members and local organizations are provided the opportunities they need to thrive and succeed.

Building on Team Impact’s goals, the organization was created to fill in a gap seen by Team Impact’s founder, Kyle Mayle.

Mayle explained, “I created Team Impact in my freshman year of high school when I saw my school’s service club was massively lacking in opportunities. For example, a volunteer job with 8 slots would open up, but since there were over 200 kids in the club it would be nearly impossible to earn the service hours we need for the NHS. So, I decided kids needed more opportunities to earn their community service time in fun, fresh, and unique ways; thus, Team Impact was born.”

To provide opportunities for students, Team Impact aims to create events and volunteering partnerships. For example, Team Impact has had events such as a charity fundraiser volleyball tournament, a charity fundraiser pickleball tournament, providing labor for Cap City festivals, a charity fundraiser basketball tournament, and providing labor for the Common Ground Free Store.

As seen through these various events, Team Impact has done a lot of hard work and made a lot of progress. Yet, they faced challenges. The biggest challenge faced with Team Impact has been staying motivated through a shaky start. When they first started it, event turnout was extremely low and people didn’t yet see the mission. People didn’t know what they were, or what they did, and thus, didn’t show up. However, through hard work, they were able to overcome this challenge.

Mayle explained, “Through lots of hard work and the help of my incredible organization-leadership team, we scaled Team Impact events to grow to the size they are today. Team Impact currently has school-specific chapters at 12 schools across Ohio each with four to eight members of leadership for their given chapter.”

If you are interested in Team Impact, whether in creating your chapter or getting involved in their volunteering events, please check out their Instagram at @teamimpact_ohio.

This article was written by William Wang, an Olentangy Liberty High School student and a member of the Powell Youth Council, a 15-student-governed nonprofit organization recognized and partnered with the Powell government that Wang created in March of 2022. Powell Youth Council’s purpose is to give a voice and power to the youth of Powell in local decisions and projects, show how local leaders create projects and decisions, and motivate the youth to help their community.