Pictured: Sydney Pollock, director of student services for Everglades University - Sarasota Campus, with Todd Hughes, Goodwill's American Veterans and Their Families program manager

The Everglades University – Sarasota Campus recently partnered with Goodwill Manasota and its Veterans Services program to collect items to benefit homeless veterans. The Everglades University donation drive – which ran from mid-August through mid-September – resulted in the collection of items such as socks, T-shirts, canned food, Slim Jims, trail mix and other snacks, mini water bottles, combs, deodorant and more; these items are being packed into backpacks and distributed to homeless veterans served by Goodwill’s American Veterans and Their Families program. At Everglades University, students, staff and faculty choose a nonprofit to support each month. The veteran-serving charitable effort is a particularly good fit for the campus: Everglades University is a yellow ribbon school, serving many veterans who are on campus getting their education after serving our country. The partnership was cemented after school representatives visited the Veterans Services program office a handful of years ago and heard how Goodwill works to address critical needs of the local veteran population. Goodwill’s Veterans Services program works to help eliminate barriers to employment, provide opportunities for higher-paying positions for veterans and their families, and connect veterans with needed social services. It also offers networking opportunities and emergency financial assistance – which is particularly important for veterans without housing or at risk of becoming homeless.

Pictured: Sydney Pollock, director of student services for Everglades University - Sarasota Campus, with Todd Hughes, Goodwill's American Veterans and Their Families program manager