Run 4 a Cause Foundation partners with 5K Race Director to provide services and products to organizations that wish to host endurance events. Endurance events consist of foot races of any distance, triathlons, and duathlons.

Why the name Run 4 a Cause? Two reasons: 1) This partnership hosts and services a network of races that boast social causes ranging from cancer to fertility to water preservation. The vast majority of clients are non-profit organizations that are hosting races as a way to fundraise for their various causes. 2) Run 4 a Cause is also a Foundation that receives proceeds from its for-profit partner, 5K Race director, to support local youth sports.

For Run 4 a Cause, I’ve aided my friend Chris Batista (founder and owner of 5K Race Director) with different race event services.

To learn more about Run 4 a Cause, visit their site at https://www.run4acause.org/.

Freedom Playground Next Generation is a 501(c)(3) organization with the intent to replace the current playground with community help! Freedom Playground is the most popular playground in DeLand. It is estimated that over 1.5 million children have enjoyed the playground over the past 23 years. Originally built by volunteers from the community in 1991, the playground is composed of wooden structures that have become deteriorated and pose a safety concern to the city’s children. The plan for the rebuild comes directly from ideas submitted by kids from DeLand’s schools. The design will include updating the park with more sustainable materials to create an interactive, physically challenging, and fun, handicap-accessible playground for children of all ages and abilities.

Along with hundreds of other volunteers, I aided in the construction of the park, notably with the team that built the five benches.  Below is a time-lapse video of its construction.  There are a variety of impactful forms of service work, and building something that will physically remain and make a difference for generations is very meaningful and rewarding.

Freedom Ride is a non-profit 501(c)(3) volunteer-based organization built on the conviction that we are not bound by our physical limitations. It is dedicated to enriching the lives and experiences of children and adults with disabilities in the Central Florida area through therapeutic horseback riding and related activities.

With a team of loyal horses, NARHA Certified Instructors, Therapist and Trained Volunteers, Freedom Ride provides therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with many types of disabilities…cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, autism, developmental delay, attention deficit disorder, deafness, blindness and many emotional and learning disabilities.

I volunteered with the organization starting the summer of 2010, and served in various volunteer capacities like horse handler and sidewalker, which afforded me close collaboration with the program’s riders.

Visit Freedom Ride Inc. Web Site

C.A.U.S.E. (Campaign for Adolescent and University Student Empowerment) was founded in 2002. Established by a group of college students, it’s a youth service initiative that reaches out to and works together with young people in local, disadvantaged communities. Through sustainable friendship and a call to service, the people involved in this program continue to make a difference in their community!

I served the program for four years, starting as volunteer and eventually becoming Program Coordinator during his senior year. The friendships I made during my time with the program continue to this day!

C.A.U.S.E. was named Florida’s “Best Youth Outreach” program by Florida Leader Magazine (Best of Florida Schools 2004).

Stetson’s Bonner branch is an extensive program that unites over 50 students in service learning and engagement at Stetson alone.

Since 2005, the Bonner Program has been a catalyst for student-led community transformation and social justice at Stetson University. Bonner students work with non-profit partners in our community in many ways, each intent on collectively and collaboratively solving challenges in our community such as poverty, homelessness, education, and health care through long-term service internships.

Bonner students:

• Intern with a non-profit community partner for eight to ten hours per week for four years
• Begin their internship by learning about the partner’s strengths and needs, then gradually increase their responsibility by taking on leadership of programs, research projects, volunteer recruitment and training, and other efforts that increase the capacity of the community partner
• Align their internship with their academic and career goals so that they graduate with the skills, knowledge and experience needed for graduate school or a career in their area of interest
• Can be any major

I served as one of the initial Bonner Scholars and worked closely with my fellow Bonners to get the program up and running.

Visit Stetson’s Bonner Home Page

FOCUS (Friends On Campus Uniting Students) is Stetson University’s orientation program. College is a life-changing experience for many people. To help ensure a comfortable transition and a feeling of being part of a family, FOCUS members work continuously to acquaint new students with college life, and to ensure they find their place on campus, make and keep friends, and enjoy their time in college to the fullest.

I served as both FOCUS Leader and Assistant Coordinator throughout my time at Stetson. I made many lasting friendships working with this organization, and helped others do the same.

Visit Stetson’s Center for First Year Studies Home Page

The GZL Educational Foundation works relentlessly to ensure that our young men are educated, prepared and mentored to achieve successes in all realms of their lives.

Engaged in this project through a friend from Stetson, I spent several weeks working closely with her to structure and implement effective content for the web site.  From editing and helping create a promotional video, to the organization’s prospectus, we spent many evenings deliberating on content creation, effective marketing messages, and more.

Visit the GZL Educational Foundation Web Site