Yael is a five-year-old Central Florida boy living with a life-threatening illness. It is his dream to go on a cruise and see the ocean. Thanks to a group of students enrolled in the Cornerstone Course, that dream is one step closer to becoming a reality.<\/p>\n
The team, \u201cHope\u2019s Reality,\u201d worked with the non-profit organization New Hope for Kids. Members included\u00a0Andres Alvarado<\/strong>,\u00a0Teddy and William Doodnauth<\/strong>,\u00a0Mary Hannah Hardcastle<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Cody Lynch<\/strong>. The group held fundraisers and events throughout the semester to help fund Yael\u2019s wish.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a large number of non-profit organizations that we could choose from this semester but from day one we knew that we wanted to choose a ‘project’ that would directly impact someone’s life. However, we never viewed it as a ‘project,’ we WANTED to help. We wanted to be part of something, and we wanted a cause that we could connect with. When we saw what New Hope for Kids did, we knew it was the non-profit for us,\u201d said team member Mary Hannah Hardcastle.<\/p>\n Their hard work this semester earned them top prize and $1,000 in the recent Cornerstone Social Entrepreneurship Competition. The competition is designed to give students enrolled in the course a chance to showcase their achievements and gain experience giving professional presentations.<\/p>\n The three runner up teams were\u00a0JA Knights<\/em>,\u00a0Knights Hope for Kids<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Team Bag Pack<\/em>.<\/p>\n The winning team was quick to credit\u00a0Carl Blencke<\/strong>, instructor, Management Department with their success. \u201cWithout the accountability of Professor Blencke and our peers we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all we did this semester,\u201d said Hardcastle.<\/p>\n Semi-final judges were:\u00a0Leslie Connell<\/strong>, UCF; \u00a0Terry Knox<\/strong>, Boys Town; \u00a0Carl Blencke<\/strong>, UCF; Renee Jaggie<\/strong>, JA; \u00a0Phyllis Harris<\/strong>, UCF; \u00a0\u00a0Rosie Wilder<\/strong>, New Hope for Kids; \u00a0Christopher Leo<\/strong>, UCF, and\u00a0Mari Rains<\/strong>, UCF. Finals judges included:\u00a0Dean Paul Jarley<\/strong>, UCF; \u00a0Amy Zeh<\/strong>, UCF; Jim, \u201986 and \u201892 and Debbie Balaschak, \u201888<\/strong>. The event was made possible due to the generous support of the Balaschaks. They wish to encourage students to learn the value of volunteering now and hope that the experiences that they have in the Cornerstone program will continue after graduation.<\/p>\n You can read more about Yael and Hope\u2019s Reality by visiting their\u00a0Facebook page\u00a0or\u00a0website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yael is a five-year-old Central Florida boy living with a life-threatening illness. It is his dream to go on a cruise and see the ocean. Thanks to a group of students enrolled in the Cornerstone Course, that dream is one step closer to becoming a reality. The team, \u201cHope\u2019s Reality,\u201d worked with the non-profit organization New Hope for Kids. Members…","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":44103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[31,27],"tags":[],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-44087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-business-administration","category-student-life"],"yoast_head":"\n