Serving Beyond Themselves: Little Lambs Teen Ambassadors Make a Difference in Cache Valley

Tara Bone
contributing writer

Youth in Cache Valley are discovering that serving others can change more than the lives of those they help. Through the Little Lambs Foundation’s Teen Ambassador program, local teens are gaining confidence, perspective, and a deeper desire to make a difference in their communities.

For Lily Condos, a senior at Sky View High School from Richmond, that experience began when she was 11 years old. When her school wasn’t holding its annual food drive during COVID, Lily decided to organize one herself, collecting donations out of her family’s home. She donated everything she gathered to Little Lambs and that’s how she first learned about the ambassador program.

Now, six years later, Lily says her ongoing involvement as a Little Lambs Teen Ambassador has changed the way she sees the world.

“I’ve really loved serving; it’s definitely given me a lot of perspective,” she said. “It’s made me more empathetic as a person and has given me a drive to help in situations wherever I can.”

Little Lambs began by helping children entering foster care. Founders Ted and Stephanie Chalfant started by providing Comfort Kits, consisting of backpacks filled with items such as blankets, stuffed animals, and books for children who had to leave their homes without personal belongings.

The organization has since grown into Utah’s only direct-service diaper bank, providing diapers, wipes, hygiene products, clothing, Comfort Kits, and other essentials to families throughout the state. In 2025, Little Lambs distributed more than 2 million diapers and served more than 725 families each month.

The Little Lambs Teen Ambassador program started when Shauna Thorpe, the program’s founder and adviser, was seeking an opportunity for her youngest son to serve. She began involving her son and his friends in service projects through Little Lambs and realized there was an opportunity to create something more. That first year there were 12 teens involved and since Shauna estimates approximately 60 teens have served over the years. Today there are 28 teens serving, ranging in ages 12 to 18.

Shauna says the program is designed not only to help Little Lambs but to empower young people.

“Little Lambs is providing opportunities for these kids and it’s empowering them to want to serve and give back in their community,” she said.

Shauna has watched that empowerment build confidence in teens who initially struggled to speak with adults. She recalls instances when ambassadors who started as shy and scared grew into confident 17 years old who weren’t afraid to advocate for other youth in need.

Lily experienced a similar transformation. One of her first projects involved standing outside Walmart, handing out flyers and asking shoppers to donate school supplies. The response was overwhelming.

“We filled my mom’s entire car, with the seats down and floor to ceiling full of donations,” Lily said. “I was a pretty shy kid, and I think that’s another way that this has impacted me is, it’s forced me to go out of my comfort zone and talk to people.”

Lily said the experience also showed her how willing people are to help. An encounter during another donation drive has stayed with her. She recalls how a mother initially told her she couldn’t afford to donate but later returned with a handful of quarters.

“She handed them to me and she said, ‘I’m so sorry. This is all I can afford right now. I’m about to go through rehab and I don’t know when I’m going to be able to see my daughter next, but I want to help this cause any way that I can,’” Lily said.

The moment taught her a life lesson.

“Someone who had so little and was facing so much adversity, was still willing to give everything they had,” she said. “That’s always stuck with me, if she can be brave and can be kind and generous in such a rough patch of her life, then why can’t I, when I’m feeling good or when I’m feeling down?”

That perspective has influenced what Lily wants to do after high school. Shem plans to attend Utah State University and hopes to participate in AmeriCorps VISTA, where she can work for a nonprofit while attending college.

For Lily, the biggest reward of serving is knowing that small actions can have a lasting effect.

“The biggest benefit is the sense of internal satisfaction, knowing that I’m helping as many people as I can,” she said. “Even donating one pack of diapers can impact so many people’s lives and it really is all those little, small acts that add up to make something so much bigger and it’s so cool to be a part of something bigger than yourself.”

Teens interested in becoming Little Lambs Teen Ambassadors can contact Shauna Thorpe at shaunathorpe22@gmail.com or apply at littlelambsofutah.org/get-involved.