For more than two and a half years, senior Ingrid Gruener has dedicated herself to helping victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. She has been involved in the nonprofit No More Tears, but also co-founded her own organization, Active Love, and created her club at school called Don’t Close Your Eyes. Through her efforts, Gruener has so far saved 43 victims. Video by Anya Gruener.

TRANSCRIPT:

“Helping others has always been my passion,” said senior Ingrid Gruener.

Gruener dedicates her life to helping victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. 

“I started volunteering at a non-profit called No More Tears,” she said. “I have been doing this volunteer work for more than 2 and a half years now. In total I have saved 43 victims.’’

Corona challenged her efforts, but she didn’t let this get in the way of helping others.

“Corona really impacted the funds we were getting,” said Gruener. “For this reason, I reached out to Antonia Trius, my friend, and together we co-founded a non-profit called Active Love.”

“Ingrid has enabled us and has persuaded us to continue focusing on this journey and help save lives,” said Trius, a senior.

“We designed bags and we reached out to Wild Fork Foods in order for them to let us sell our bags there,” continued Gruner. “All the profits are going to victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.’’

Her extensive experience with helping victims has inspired her to extend her efforts into her school community.

“After working with victims for more than 2 years, I realized that this was a global issue and it had to be addressed at schools,” said Gruener. “For this reason, I started a club at school called Don’t Close Your Eyes. In my club I have started donation drives, organized meetings with survivors and with the founder of No More Tears in order to raise awareness on this issue.’’

Ingrid plans to continue helping others throughout her life.

“I plan to become a lawyer and continue helping people and my main goal is to give children a voice in the legal system,” she said.

If you want to make a change you can donate at www.activeloveusa.org.

“Helping others has and will always be my greatest passion,” Gruener said.

This is Anya Gruener reporting for Raider Voice.