Logan Sanderford: ‘You just have to be kind to people’

The service journey of River City Early College senior Logan Sanderford began with a friend in need.

“I had this best friend in ninth grade, and no child learns the same, so he had a really hard time learning,” she said. “Every day, we had an hour at the end of the day when kids that played sports would leave, and me and him would sit together and work on his grades and his schoolwork. He got a B in one of his classes and came to me just crying, just absolutely ecstatic, and that really just made it all worth it for me.”

Afterward, a brief conversation with her school counselor opened up the world of service to Sanderford, showing her that good can come out of any situation.

“I came from a school where I always felt like an outcast, and it wasn’t anybody’s fault, but I was just that kid,” she said. “My counselor, Mary Richardson, just taught me to be kind to people no matter who they are or if they look different from you, speak different from you—it doesn’t matter. You just have to be kind to people because you never really know what’s going on with them. So I kind of took what she taught me and ran with it.”

Since then, Sanderford has striven to go above and beyond to help others when given the opportunity.

“Since ninth grade, I’ve been the president of our Service Club here at River City Early College, and I try to put together different events,” she said. “Like, we’ll normally have a carnival for different seasons, and it’s super fun. I’ve also done tons of coat drives, food drives, and my most successful drive was in 2015 when animals were included. I took dog and cat food, and we ended up with a whole U-Haul full of food.”

Sanderford plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi and major in business to continue her education but for now, she is content with volunteering at her favorite place in town, Jacob’s Ladder.

“I’ll always be involved in something no matter what,” she said. “I can’t just sit still, and I always want to be involved with Jacobs Ladder. They really are special to my heart, and my very best friend Pat goes there. He can’t speak. We can’t understand each other, but the love that he radiates, I feel.  And I never want to not be a part of that.”