Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/356321
SRQVolunteen students raised $310 and col- lected 157 pounds of food for All Faiths Food Bank at the spaghetti dinner they held Friday, July 25, at Bayside Community Church in Sarasota, Community Youth Development has announced. Seventy-five people attended the event, which featured food and drinks donated by Whole Foods Market and baked goods provided by SRQVolunteen members and volunteers, a news release notes. The SRQVolunteen class chose addressing hunger in Sarasota for its community service project. As part of their research on the issue, students volunteered at All Faiths Food Bank, "where they sorted produce and learned more about the summer meals program for Sarasota County students," the release continues. "We are so proud to have been selected by the SRQVolunteen students," said All Faiths CEO Sandra Frank in the release. "Their hard work and generosity not only helps us feed families, but they get to experience how wonderful it feels to make a difference in our community." Suriya Khong, CYD's coordinator for volun- teer programs, added in the release, "Hunger is a big problem in our community. Sometimes people get overwhelmed by a problem so big, but the kids got excited about doing some- thing to help. The success of their project will encourage them to tackle problems in the community in the future." SRQVolunteen is a six-session training pro- gram during which students create and design their own service learning project in partnership with a community organization, the release explains. By the program's com- pletion, each participant will have earned 20 hours of community service and developed leadership, problem-solving and group work- ing skills, the release notes. YOUTH GROUP MARKS SUCCESS IN FUNDRAISER FOR FOOD BANK A community youth group raised funds and collected food for All Faiths Food Bank during a July 25 event. Image from the All Faiths Food Bank website Sarasota News Leader August 1, 2014 Page 84