It’s hard to believe that August is almost in the rearview mirror and the 2nd half of the year is in front of us. Summer is nearly over, students are back in school and soon the retailers will have us thinking about Santa Claus much too early!
We wanted to take a quick moment to provide you with a snapshot or two of the team, and share some things going on personally in our lives. We are fortunate to have many things to be proud of and celebrate. Not to mention, some of the fun we have been having with our families over these summer months!
Melissa has increased her time spent volunteering with VISTE and especially enjoys delivering meals to their clients. Also, her daughter, Emily has been home from Cornell University and will head back soon for her senior year! Her degree will be in Law and Society.
Both Melissa & Kathy are passionate about volunteering.
Kathy continues to devote her personal time with the Dream Center and is planning to join Melissa at VISTE as well. She also loves exercising and has completed 6 races this summer from the PMA Mayfair 5K to the Lakeland Runners Club Watermelon 5K Series.
We also are so proud of Dr. Bowlin and his part in the creation of the annual United Way’s Difference-Maker Award. This was the first time the United Way delivered this award to honor young leaders in Polk, Hardee & Highlands counties who are making an impact on their community. It is established in memory of UWCF Ambassador and staff member, Kayla Harris, who passed away in March 2021. Sarah Beth Rogers was presented the award in honor of Kayla Harris at the recent United Way Annual Meeting. Congratulations to you both!
In June our entire team participated in our Mid-Year Team Retreat. This is a follow-up to our Annual Year-end Retreat where we spend the day and discussing how to improve on our service matrix, new technology enhancements available to our team and clients as well as how we can make our client experience as efficient as possible. It’s always a fun and productive day!
Early July Gwyn and family were thrilled to welcome home her son, Garrett. Most recently was home on leave after being deployed to Korea during his first 10 months of his Army contract. He will soon be completing his 2nd year of service and is based full-time at Fort Stewart in Georgia. A little closer to home makes for a happy mom!
We would also like to send a special “Thank You” to Matthew Albritton, Keith’s son. Matthew worked with us through the summer as an intern on our team and was able to do research on many important projects and initiatives for us. He heads back to complete his junior year at UF this fall. It was wonderful to have him alongside our team for the summer….Thank you Matthew!!
August 2021
