Students in Rosen College’s successful Peer Outreach Mentoring Program (POMP), which partners upper-level undergraduate students with their peers, focused on community service this year. Through giving back, they learned the value of teamwork and how making a difference in others’ lives contributes to personal growth.
Here’s a brief recap of POMP’s main community service activities in 2015:
4th Annual Pack to Attack Hunger 2015
On Nov. 14, POMP students joined other UCF students at the CFE Arena to package healthy meals for hungry children and families. Currently, one in six Floridians struggle with hunger every day. In total, the event packaged 151,000 meals for local children and families, 10,000 of which were sent to Zambia in Africa to feed orphans through the Family Legacy Zambia Tree of Life Organization.
1st Rent-A-Pup Event
The mission of Knight-Thon, UCF’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon and largest student-run philanthropy, is to educate, inspire and unite our campus and community to provide ongoing support for Greater Orlando Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Student teams raise money year-round through fundraising events and personal appeals. In the spring, students stand for 20 hours to celebrate their fundraising efforts and the children they have raised money to support.
In 2014, POMP and Rosen Life partnered to create the first Rosen College Knight-Thon team and raised more than $2,000. On Nov. 2, POMP partnered with Pet Rescue by Judy to fill the Rosen College campus with puppies that students could “rent” in exchange for donations to Knight-Thon. The event raised more than $500 in just four hours.
UCF’s Dance Marathon will be held at the CFE Arena on April 2. The Rosen College Miracle Makers team fundraising goal is $3,000.