What does a group looking at volunteerism and civic action explore while in northwest Florida? The answer is A LOT!
In the spring, a group of international visitors from Chile, Egypt, Nepal, Palestinian Territories, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and South Africa who were here as participants of the International Visitor Leadership Program, a professional exchange of the U.S. Department of State, discovered just that. They met with Jo McArthur, Coordinator of Community Involvement for the Escambia County School District, to discuss the impact of community mentorship on youth academic success. They visited with students at Catholic High School to explore how schools promote youth civic engagement and volunteerism; and they focused on the importance of a volunteer-driven organization in building and maintaining a working board with Karen Jurkowich, the Board Chair of the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council.
They met with City Council Executive Don Kraher for a welcome orientation and spent time at Feeding the Gulf Coast for a service activity with Program Specialist Anita Totten and Volunteer and Food Drive Coordinator Aubrey Grier. They also had a conversation focused on the Escambia County 4-H Youth Development program with Program Assistant Jereme Johnson and other 4-H team members where they explored the components of 4-H and how it creates student leaders. They then discussed their own work through a televised interview with Jeff Weeks which allowed them to share their thoughts with a regional television audience. They also focused on how volunteerism can fuel community change through a facilitated discussion with locals Susan Senkarik and Jeannine van Reeth and UWF students Racine Frank and Basil Kuloba.
Citizen diplomacy is alive and well in northwest Florida and exists because of the generosity of volunteers who come together to offer dynamic appointments & experiences for international visitors. The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council appreciates the efforts of everyone who worked to make the visitors’ time in Pensacola professionally rewarding and extends a special thank you to Liz and Basil Yelverton and Maju and Michael Ritz for inviting the visitors into their homes for dinner one evening.
