All Lake-Sumter State College faculty and staff, alongside students, will give back to the local community on Friday, October 19 in the inaugural Lakehawk Service Day.
In total, the College community will donate over 1,000 hours of community service to 18 projects across Lake and Sumter Counties.
“We hope this day will ignite fervor for service across our community,” says Toni Upchurch, public speaking & journalism instructor and chair of LSSC’s community outreach committee.
In Clermont, thanks to a generous donation by Office Depot of Clermont, volunteers will be packaging 11,000 meals with Feeding Children Everywhere, a non-profit based in Orlando with projects worldwide, for their Full Cart Program that provides low-cost meals to low-income families.
In Sumter County, volunteers will partner with the Florida Department of Health (FLDOH) in Sumter County to clean up a park in Wildwood and leave ‘kindness rocks’ in place of littered items. A community health assessment by FLDOH identified the state of local parks as a barrier to many residents seeking safe and healthy places for exercise and outdoor recreation. LSSC and FLDOH staff teamed up on a project called Public Health Rocks to share health-related messaging in community parks around the county.
In Leesburg, volunteers will partner with the Early Learning Coalition to assist in the preparations for their upcoming Day in the Park event. Additionally, over 60 donated trees will be planted on the College’s Leesburg Campus.
“In years past, this has been an on-campus day of learning and professional development for our faculty and staff,” said Dr. Stanley Sidor, president of LSSC. “Last year, we decided to broaden our approach and felt that community service was an excellent opportunity to make a difference in the community and provide personal and professional development to employees. I would like to thank Toni and the community outreach committee for their leadership and hard work that made this day of service possible.”
LSSC will send volunteers to assist the following organizations:
- Dream Catchers Horse Ranch and Rescue
- Early Learning Coalition of Lake County
- Empower Farms, Tavares
- FAITH Neighborhood Center
- Families in Transition
- Feeding Children Everywhere
- Florida Dept. of Health – Sumter County
- Habitat for Humanity, Bushnell
- Habitat for Humanity, Lady Lake
- Habitat for Humanity, Leesburg
- Habitat for Humanity, Mount Dora
- Haven of Lake and Sumter County
- New Beginnings
- New Vision for Independence
- St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store
- TEDxLSSC
- Trout Nature Center
- Wildwood Elementary School
Volunteers will be sharing their experiences on social media using the hashtag #LSSCserves.