With COVID-19 restrictions being removed, The Heritage Community Relations Officer is working to get back to connecting with the residents in person rather than virtually!
Community Relations Officer at The Heritage, Angela Miles, had the perfect opportunity to host a series of career days for the students during the annual Summer Program powered by Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services. The amazing thing about KBK is that many of our company employees have incredibly diverse backgrounds. By using her resources, Angela contacted Rhinos throughout the company who had backgrounds in law, nursing, entrepreneurship, designing, art, culinary, farming and much more.
After being asked to volunteer, the KBK team members eagerly committed to educating and having fun with the students.
“As volunteers, we know in our hearts that one person can make a significant impact on someone else’s life but being able to connect with children from a different culture and witness the child’s engagement, excitement and quick development was very heartfelt,” Adriana Hale said.
The first professional, a registered nurse at Columbus City Schools and also serves as KBK Foundation’s Vice President, Donica Key. Along with other Columbus City Schools Registered Nurses, Donica met with high school students at The Heritage to discuss basic health tips and the importance of check-ups and screenings. What made her presentation even more special was that each student got to take a First Aid and CPR course. At the end of the course the students received CPR Certificates. The students can now use this skill to apply for jobs and now have the ability to save someone’s life using the techniques they learned, something majority of adults do not have or have accurate knowledge of. Some students even left the class with a new interest in nursing and the medial field in general!
“Seeing yourself in a profession you typically don’t see people like you represented in is what this is all about,” said Donica.
Darienne Key, Chief Administrative Officer for KBK Enterprises happens to also be a professional chef and has worked in some of America’s most famous restaurants as well as overseas. When asked by Community Relations Officer, Angela Miles, she was excited to share her expertise with the students. Her goal to was to not only teach them how to cook, but also show them healthier food options and give them some important tips.
On the menu was Filipino Adobo Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Fresh Fruit Smoothie Bowls. Darienne came prepared and had each student’s food measured out and ready to follow along step by step. The students never had Filipino food, and a few had never cooked before, but they were very excited to learn something new. Once the food was finished the students wasted no time, they could not wait to taste their meal.
After Darienne’s chef session was completed, the kids were so excited and shocked to know that KBK’s Chief Administrator was a chef in many places throughout the US and took time to teach them. It was a wonderful experience to see the passion from Darienne and the excitement from the kids and program teachers.
“The students were so bright, and you could tell they were smart, likely top performers in their classes. If they figure out what interests them the most, start to develop the skills in that field and work hard they will go far in life, I am sure of it.” – Darienne Key
The last visitors who blazed through were our brave friends from the City of Columbus Division of Fire firefighters. The original plan was to engage the students with the “safety fire house” but due to some technical issues the firefighters could not set it up. But no worries, the firefighters allowed the students to tour the firetruck and check out all its features. Next the students got into full character and tried on full firefighter suits, including the helmet and mask. This was followed by an engaging Q&A session, which gave the firefighters a chance to describe what a typical call of duty is to them. It was very interesting to hear the variety of key elements that go into responding to a fire. Some key takeaways stressed were if you are experiencing a fire is “get out and stay out.” Some of the most common cases of severe fire burn or even death is when people enter the premises during a fire. Lastly, they shared no matter what it may seem the fire academy encourages more women to become firefighters. They are an equal opportunity workforce and there is no job limited to just one type of person.
We have such a diverse and talented group of individuals within KBK and our network, so it was amazing for the volunteers to share their passions with these bright students. Angela did an amazing job providing these incredible opportunities with the students and giving them the opportunity to not only listen to these professionals but also gain some hands-on training. With the summer quickly ending there a few more surprises she has for the students and hopefully they leave this program with a lesson or information that sticks with them over time.
Thank you to Angela Miles, The Heritage staff and to our amazing volunteers for making this possible and giving the students something to always remember, cannot wait to see what the future has in store!
