High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2025

My experience at Heart of Florida United Way

My experience at Heart of Florida United Way

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Course Code

LDR

Course Number

3215

Faculty/Instructor

Dr. Virginia Koch

Faculty/Instructor Email

Virginia.Koch@ucf.edu

About the Author

My name is Alana Ben-David, and I am currently a second-year student at the University of Central Florida. I am passionate about leadership, volunteer work, and helping others feel seen and valued. Throughout this semester, I had the privilege of volunteering with Heart of Florida United Way, where I supported community events and learned valuable lessons about empathy, collaboration, and civic responsibility. I would like to thank the entire HFUW team, and especially Roxane Perret, for their support, encouragement, and dedication to serving Central Florida.

Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement

For my service-learning project, I volunteered at Heart of Florida United Way, which is a nonprofit dedicated to improving lives in Central Florida by providing food assistance, housing support, education programs, and financial stability resources. Since HFUW addresses a wide variety of community needs, I had the chance to volunteer at several different types of events. For instance, at a veterans’ nursing home event, I helped with activities and wrote appreciation cards, which not only beautified the facility but also made the veterans and staff feel valued. At another event, I assisted with loading supplies for a local church’s community drive, and I’m also involved in preparing meal kits for HFUW’s Thanksgiving Project. Overall, I found that volunteering with HFUW gave me a chance to support a variety of community initiatives.

Additional Resources

Heart of Florida United Way. (n.d.). Heart of Florida United Way. https://www.hfuw.org

University of Central Florida LEAD Scholars Academy. (n.d.). Program overview. Retrieved from https://lead.sdes.ucf.edu

Keywords

Leadership; service; community

My experience at Heart of Florida United Way


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