The Moorestown Alumni Association (MAA) is a way for graduates to stay connected, even after their high-school journey ends.
“To me, the alumni association just isn’t about me, and it’s not about one person,” said Austin Haynes, its president. “It’s not just about even the team of people who help me. More so, it’s about our alumni.”
Haynes graduated from Moorestown High in 2015 and comes from a family of school alumni. With the township a deep presence in Haynes’ life, he enjoys giving back to others.
“I was a part of Moorestown Alumni for Racial Equity & Inclusion for a very long time, and we did a bunch of work in the community,” he said. “Just mainly helping the high school throughout the racial situations and racial tensions that are still ongoing now, but we mainly predominantly helped them in 2020.”
According to Haynes, the high school had an alumni association years ago, but it went dormant. His work with Moorestown Alumni for Racial Equity & Inclusion inspired him to start the nonprofit back up in 2020.
“It just piqued my interest because Moorestown has some prominent alumni, and some alumni in high spaces, and some alumni that would love to give back if given the opportunity,” Haynes noted.
“Moorestown is a town where people come back to, and people want to raise their kids and have a family … ”
Over time, the association has held fundraising events including an art show, and according to its website, has connected 4,000 alumni. Each year, the MAA awards two $500 scholarships to two seniors, and gives out an all-expenses paid SAT and ACT prep course to two juniors.
“It makes a world of a difference because you don’t know what someone is going through at home,” Haynes said. “You don’t know someone’s financial situation, and even though I wish we could give out full scholarships and pay for all of it… Maybe one day but we’re not there yet.”
The MAA has several committees, including an outreach committee, a fundraising committee and scholarship committee, and Haynes encourages anyone interested to volunteer.
“We could always use more,” he observed. “There’s so much more, and so many ideas that I would love to pursue to be able to give back to the students and be able to give these kids what I wish I had in high school, and what I wish that my little brother had as well, to be able to help us succeed in life.”
Haynes would like to start an internship program at the association, where resources would be available to high-school students to connect with someone in a career field that interests them.
“I feel as though that many students go into college without the certainty of what they want to do,” he explained. “They go in with just an idea, but they never have done it before.”
Haynes is thankful for those who have helped turn the township association into what it is now.
“Being able to have people around you that you can trust is key, and without those people and the many other individuals that have helped me, this wouldn’t be a thing,” he said.
“I don’t want to make it seem like I did this by myself, because this wouldn’t be here without every single person that’s helped the alumni association along the way.”
For more information on the association, visit https://moorestownalumni.com.
“I’m not the person who’s worried about myself at all,” Haynes concluded, “and being able to help the next person means the world to me.”
