Every Girl Deserves to Feel Like A Queen

Greetings!

The past week has been filled with great community and charitable events- and it's been a blast!

Volunteering at campus kitchens last Friday morning got the weekend and following week off to such a great start. While the Auburn United Methodist Church held their weekly food bank that morning, the Campus Kitchens student group and I delivered hot food left over from on campus cafeterias to AUMC and served these hot meals at the food bank. Campus Kitchens organizations are located all over the country at various colleges and universities, and the group here at Auburn is relatively new to campus.

While reducing food waste, CK also alleviates hunger- what a perfect combo! Taking time on Friday mornings to help prepare and distribute these hot meals is amazing. I love serving our community in such a thoroughly kind and sustainable way. I will be working much more closely with CK as the semester and my time at Auburn continues. In my Hunger Studies Capstone course, our goal is to improve CK and its effectiveness as much as we possibly can by gathering more restaurants and cafeterias to donate their left over prepared food and by finding more distribution sites in high need areas. I can't wait to see the culmination of all our work and the impact that we can make!

On Sunday, I attended a Sherri Hill trunk show at Lasting Impressions in Columbus, Georgia. I was blown away by the amazing people at Lasting Impressions, the experience of meeting Sherri Hill, and of course, the gowns!! After some time in the dressing rooms and walking around the shop, I finally settled on a custom Sherri Hill gown. I am so thankful and blessed to be surrounded by such unique experiences and such supportive people. Needless to say, I am beyond excited for my gown to arrive!

It's amazing sometimes where you meet the most interesting people. They can be hidden in such seemingly normal situations, but once you speak with them, you realize how special they are. I experienced this over and over while visiting the Oak Park Nursing Home in Auburn for their Valentine's Day Prom hosted by the Impact student organization.

After some mingling and dancing, I talked with a few truly special people who have so much to teach all of us. From former professors and researchers to a woman who left south Alabama for Washington D.C. to go to college, all the residents at Oak Park touched my heart that night and it was an honor to crown the prom queen and king. And a big "Congrats" to Impact for successfully hosting such a special event!

Every girl deserves to feel like a queen, and I quite literally got to experience this at the University Club's Scholarship Mardi Gras Ball. Being invited to attend was an honor enough, but when I found out I was selected to serve as the Mardi Gras Queen, I could not have been more flattered.

The University Club is a very special and supportive organization that raises and donates funds towards scholarships at Auburn. And they put on a wonderful party! A Celtic dance group (with whom I certainly had to snag a picture with), a live auction, and the presentation of the King, Sheriff Jay Jones, and his court are only a few of the events that the University Club had arranged for all their distinguished guests.

What a fun-filled week!

I'd like to encourage anyone who is interested or who would like to learn more about hunger and fighting it locally to attend the Zap Out Hunger laser tag tournament this coming Saturday, February 26th. Registration is $15 a person, including a tshirt, and all funds go to benefit the UN World Food Programme. There will be plenty of fun events for kids, too! For more information, click here!

Also, this Sunday the 27th, Auburn women's basketball will play Kentucky, and canned food items will be collected for donation. It's a perfect opportunity to support our Tigers and bring a couple canned food items for the food drive held during the game. Just bring your items into the Arena and they will be collected as you enter!

Hoping to see you at the Zap Out Hunger laser tag tournament and the game this weekend!

War Eagle & With Love,
Emilee