FUTURO students give thanks
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
In this season of giving thanks, one group of students recently said thank you in a special way to a team of employees that works round the clock to keep the university up and running.
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, members of Lipscomb’s chapter of FUTURO, a national professional association for Latino college students, hosted a luncheon to thank the service operations team that keeps buildings clean, maintained, heated and cooled and the campus looking beautiful among many other responsibilities.
“We feel that it is part of the FUTURO mission to reach out to all cultures and thank them for what they do,” said Lisa Steele, assistant dean of student life, director of intercultural development and coordinator of Latino Student Services. “Our goal is not only to serve them but to tell them how much we appreciate them. Sometimes we forget to say thank you to this team of people who do so much for all of us. This is a small way we can give something back to them.”
“Once we serve the meal, our students sit down with them and share the meal with the employees and they connect with them. There is something about sitting around a table together that builds community. The students always say that it is a tremendous blessing for them.”
This is the third time FUTURO has hosted a meal for the service operations team. Each semester members of FUTURO plan every detail of the meal from reserving the venue to ordering food to cleaning up after the event. This year, 60 of the 80 service operations team members attended the event.
“We wanted to host a lunch for our facilities team to show them appreciation for everything they do,” said Elias Magana, president of Lipscomb’s FUTURO chapter. “It is one way that FUTURO can give back, and we just love interacting and being able to spend sometime with the facilities team.”
Magana said Jacky Gomez, community service director for the group, organized the event with help from other members of the organization.
“I was very pleased and very proud of our members,” she said. “We wanted to work hard because we know what a difficult job the facilities workers have sometimes, and we know how uplifting it can be to receive appreciation for the work you do. It is always rewarding just to be able to stand back and see how much the employees really enjoyed and appreciated that we would do this for them.”
In addition to the meal, FUTURO students prepared goodie bags with special treats for each employee. The gesture was very meaningful to the department.
“Our team appreciates any time their work is noticed,” said Jeff Wilson, director of service operations and retail operations. “‘Thank yous’ such as this really encourage them and help them to know they are appreciated. Often our work is not noticed unless something goes wrong, and in many ways that is a good thing! But they do appreciate these acknowledgements.”
Another appreciation meal for the service operations team is planned for spring semester.
The FUTURO program is a program of the Tennessee Latin America Chamber of Commerce and is an inclusive organization that engages Latino college students in the process of professional development with four areas of focus: professional development training, internships and career mentoring, professional networking and community building. They promote career readiness through workshops and leadership seminars; provide internships and career mentoring; provide networking opportunities through partnerships with area businesses; and a commitment to community service.
For more information visit www.lipscomb.edu/multicultural/futuro.