Anna McGuiness, 23

Anna McGuiness' first foray into activism happened when she was 12. In 2013, the ConVal School District wanted to close down Great Brook School in Antrim — where McGuiness was a student — as a cost-cutting measure. "I was upset about it and wrote an email to the superintendent," McGuiness, now 23, recalled. "I got a really rude email back basically telling me I was a kid, that I should mind my business." But as far as pre-teen McGuiness believed, this was her business, so she organized her peers to show up on voting day, holding signs and speaking to the school board about why the school shouldn't close. McGuiness and her supporters were successful in putting their point across, and although there have been other attempts to consolidate schools in the district since then, Great Brook still remains in operation. "If I feel that something is unjust or unfair, I really can't let it go," McGuiness said. Taking on from that experience, McGuiness became a staunch advocate for community organizing. A lifelong Hancock resident — except when she was studying political science at Simmons University in Boston from 2019 to 2023, and briefly during the pandemic — McGuiness is now a social studies teacher at Monadnock Regional Middle School. "I love that age because they're still really playful and energetic the way that children are, but they're starting to think and ask questions about the world," McGuiness said. "They're so funny. I laugh all day working with them." In 2020, McGuiness decided she wanted to augment her community service efforts. The result was Keene Mutual Aid, which McGuiness founded that year with support from other local activists. KMA's biggest initiative is the Free Store, which McGuiness and about 15 other volunteers set up every Saturday in Railroad Square in Keene. The program receives funding from New Hampshire Mutual Aid and Relief Fund and individual donations, which McGuiness uses to buy food and other items such as batteries, medical supplies, and hygiene products in bulk. The Free Store initiative started in Ashuelot Park, where McGuiness had already been bringing supplies to people who were living there. "I would drag [my friends] out into the woods and we would go talk to people in their tents and we would make these lists of what people need and we'd bring it out in grocery store bags," McGuiness said. McGuiness said that there's a misconception that only people experiencing homelessness can use the Free Store, but in reality anyone can take advantage of it. Seniors who are on a fixed income also make up a big percentage of shoppers. "KMA does not perform any sort of means-testing, which reflects Anna's belief that people understand their own needs and abilities better than anyone looking in from the outside," Malachai Snide, who nominated McGuiness for the Trendsetter Awards, wrote in the nomination letter. She knew that for the initiative to be successful, she needed to garner the trust of the community she was serving. "They have been burned before by people who are well-meaning," McGuiness said of the area's unhoused population. "A lot of them are always sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop… They really want to be seen as neighbors and members of the community." Now, McGuiness says the program gets an average of 35 "customers" every Saturday, including regulars. "Our most popular items are AA and AAA batteries," she said, noting that batteries are important to people living outside who don't have access to electricity. KMA also organizes events to bring people together or spread awareness about issues whenever needed. "When there are big political events [like when Roe v Wade was overturned] that we feel are affecting a marginalized community in an unfair way, we try to provide space for people who want to talk about it and act on it," McGuiness explained. Snide particularly recalled Transgender Day of Visibility, which was observed in March. 31, 2023. "She was able to support me in carrying it out successfully, while allowing me to make my own decisions and experience this process in a way that I continue to learn from," Snide wrote. McGuiness hopes to give KMA a permanent physical home someday. She's working on filing 501(c)(3) paperwork for it, and it's been a learning process. "If there is anyone reading this interview who is an accountant or a real estate agent, please email me," McGuiness said, laughing. "I'm 23-years-old. I've only ever done my own taxes. I have no idea how any of it works." McGuiness believes that the stigma against unhoused people in the region prevents help from reaching them. "People who camp outside are some of the most looked down upon people in America," she said. "The city sweeps them out from where they camp, hides them away, pushes them out into the woods." Anyone who wants to get involved with KMA can just show up to the Free Store on Saturday, ideally with donations (she regularly posts a wishlist of items they need most on Instagram and Facebook). "I'm really easy to find," she says. "I have bright red hair and a bright red Honda."