Rollins #SummerSERVE Takeover!

Volunteering and Foster Kid Enrichment

Ms. Adrianne Benso was honored to be the 2017 recipient of the Thaddeus Seymour Award for Community Engagement for Volunteering and Foster Kid Enrichment

This is a distinguished award given by Rollins College. According to Rollins College, “This award is to be granted annually to the individual staff member whose leadership, dedication and commitment have created positive, socially just, creative, and focused ways of  transforming the lives of the people, events, and environments in local and global communities.”

As part of the award, Ms. Benso was able to choose an organization of her choice to receive a donation from Rollins College. Ms. Benso also chose to volunteer with her selected organization. Thankfully, she selected the Foundation and gathered fellow students and colleagues from Rollins College.

#SummerSERVE

On the morning of July 21st, the Rollins’ #SummerSERVE group filled our entire office! Twenty-five students and staff had taken a group outing over to our office to volunteer! They were like a volunteer army deployed with the mission of goodness and creativity!!

The volunteers got right to work making birthday cards and educational encouragement cards. Along with the cardstock paper, they used all types of media to make the cards as unique as possible-watercolor paint, googly eyes, yarn, puffy paint, metallic paper, and more! After all of the cards were done, Adrianne “rang the bell”, as is the custom when great things happen at the Foundation! The students also signed up to stay involved with us in the future, through volunteering and a variety of ways.

Sharing Experience

Ms. Benso spoke about her experience making the cards, “It was so calming and fun! We talked afterward about the thought of seeing a kid’s face when they opened the cards. It made us so happy.” Ms. Raven Tanyhill said, “We enjoyed celebrating our Thaddeus Seymour award winner and there could not have been a better organization to partner with in doing so.”

Congratulations to Ms. Benson and thank you, Rollins #SummerSERVE members. It was an absolute pleasure to host your group! The cards will bring so many smiles!

Check out the video of Adrianne ringing the bell: Video of Rollins Summer Serve