CF to Celebrate Thanksgiving With Evangeline Booth Garden Residents

Nov. 21, 2011

Students and employees of College of Central Florida will celebrate an early Thanksgiving with the 80 residents of Evangeline Booth Garden Apartments on Wednesday, Nov. 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For the 10th consecutive year CF will prepare and share a traditional meal with residents of Evangeline Booth, which is a venture of the Salvation Army, Housing Authority and private concerns in Marion County.

“This is a very meaningful event for the college,” said Jean Scheppers, professor of Communications. “Many of the more than 1,000 staff and students who have visited Evangeline Booth Gardens over the past 10 years return year after year to share the holiday with their treasured friends. The turkey dinner is always a hit, especially when it is delivered piping hot and served with all the trimmings."

Over the years, students have embraced the apartments as a site for service-learning activities. Practical Nursing students have conducted health screenings; Career Academy students have planned and carried out holiday parties; art students have produced a mural for the community room; and Personal Services students have washed and cut hair and given manicures. The Thanksgiving dinner project has served more than 850 meals, contributed more than $2,500 to Evangeline Booth Garden’s community projects, and generated countless smiles for residents of the apartments.

This year Communications students in the classes of Wendy Adams have been recording the oral histories of the residents of Evangeline, and a student jazz duo from CF will be performing live in concert before the meal.

To learn more about the event or to make a donation for the meal, call Scheppers at 352-854-2322, ext. 1688, or email scheppej@cf.edu.