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By the time Shay Patel won Carrollton's Youth Volunteer of the Year Award, she had already donated nearly 4,500 pounds of clothing, toys and blankets to area shelters, transformed how the city's public library recruits teenagers and helped raise close to a million dollars for children's education halfway around the world. She is 17.
Patel received the honor on Feb. 25 at the 18th annual Citizens' Evening, one of four volunteer awards presented that night at the Carrollton Senior Center. Citizens' Evening is an annual gathering where residents meet directly with city staff and leaders, learn about each department's work and hear the mayor's State of the City address. The Carrollton Volunteer Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have gone above and beyond for the community.
Hearing her name called caught her off guard.
"I was so surprised. I didn't think I was gonna win," she said. "They called my name and I was just overfilled with joy. I started walking to the mayor with the biggest smile on my face."
The idea behind her nonprofit, All Around Hospitality, came from something she noticed as a young child. Her father works in hotel management, and tagging along to his job she noticed the same thing each time. Guests checked out and left behind clothing, toys and blankets that went to waste.
"I was like, there's something that we can do with this," she said. "When I got older, I talked to him about it, and then we formed a nonprofit."
Founded in August 2024, the organization collects leftover items from hotel and motel front desks through monthly pickups and donates them to shelters throughout the area. In Carrollton, goods go to Goodwill and The Salvation Army. In Dallas, donations go to organizations including Our Calling, The Bridge and Austin Street Center. What began as a small operation has grown to six officers, all classmates, each conducting their own donation drives.
"We started off small and so we had a small impact, but they still saw the good in it," Patel said. "They just wanted to continue because it was helping so many different people within our community."
The shelters have taken notice. "They've contacted us and talk about how grateful they are for our donations and how they'd love to collaborate with us even more in the future," Patel said.
While the nonprofit is new, Patel's commitment to Carrollton runs deeper. She has volunteered at the Carrollton Public Library for four years, spending much of that time on the Teen Advisory Council, a program that requires applicants to submit recommendation letters and complete an interview before being selected. The council's 17 members meet monthly to plan and run programs for teens and youth throughout Carrollton, from craft-focused MakerLab events to the library's signature fall celebration, Enchanted Library.
Damaris Renedo, the youth services librarian and this year's TAC liaison, nominated Patel for the award without hesitation.
"She's full of really great ideas, really good at working with other people and great with communicating," Renedo said. "I've really been impressed with Shay."
Patel's influence on the program will outlast her membership. She proposed that TAC members create social media reels to promote the council and attract new applicants. Library management was initially hesitant, but Patel led a small group in producing a video that became the most-viewed post in the library's history and drove a record number of applications to this year's council. Social media content creation is now a permanent part of TAC's responsibilities.
"My friends, when they were just scrolling on Instagram Reels, they saw the video we made with 500 likes and they're like, 'I didn't even know the library had a TAC program,'" Patel said. "The social media awareness is really good because you can get so many people to know about your organization."
Her service extends beyond Carrollton. Patel serves as social media manager for the North Texas chapter of Akshaya Patra, an organization rooted in India that provides school meals to children so they can stay in school and off the fields. The North Texas chapter raised close to a million dollars at its 2025 gala.
Cory Heiple, Carrollton's Environmental Services director, said Patel's nomination left a strong impression on everyone who reviewed it.
"A youth member of the city who has not only founded a nonprofit but is providing such a benefit to homeless individuals by providing clothing and partnering with social service agencies directly involved in addressing homelessness. The work she is doing blew city staff and those reviewing the nominations away," Heiple said. "We were very proud that not only is she part of our community, but that we have an opportunity to recognize her for her work."
For Patel, the driving force has never been recognition. It goes back to something she grew up watching in her own city.
"I've lived in Carrollton my whole life," she said. "When I was younger, I'd see different volunteers come and all the help that they do. I just wanted to be a part of that movement because help is always needed, and it can help so many people just even working an hour."
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