Gaw is the student LINCs coordinator for the organization.
Gia Gaw ’24 is the vibrant student LINCs coordinator for the Kopper Top Life Learning Center and the Kernodle Center for Civic Life.
Kopper Top is dedicated to serving both children and adults in our community, including those with and without disabilities. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals through animal-assisted recreational therapy activities, focusing on empowerment, enabling, and enhancement.
Gaw has been a part of the Kernodle Center since her first year at Elon and says that “through the years the relationships I have built in office and at service sights has brought me back to the Kernodle Center and has impacted me.”
In her role at the organization, Gaw debriefs volunteers on the mission and leads them through daily tasks of managing the farm. Then, horse riders come to the farm and they assist them on the horses. Gaw has expressed her love for the program by saying, “what came to my mind with impact when I became a leader was to bring my love of service to others through Kopper Top. In addition to that, the feeling of being able to work with Kopper Top and other people to make an impact keeps me coming back to the organization.”
Gaw’s impact on the office will be dearly missed as she is graduating later this month. She plans to take the Kernodle Center’s values with her after she graduates while she travels Europe and volunteers in different countries.