Summer program inspires community service

November 17, 2008

Kelley Godfrey spent the summer before her senior year of high school restoring three houses. She accumulated more than 90 hours of service around Gainesville before her acceptance to UF.

“I would have sat at home by the pool, and instead I changed lives,” Godfrey said. “I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”

Godfrey, a UF freshman, was among 19 motivated high school students who spent their 2007 summer serving the Gainesville community through the second-annual Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Change (YELC) program at UF. During 2008, 23 students participated in YELC.

The program provides college-bound, juniors and seniors, who are interested in entrepreneurship, leadership and positive social change, with opportunities to make a difference.

During Summer B, students take two college-level courses and partake in community service with local organizations.

YELC is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Center for Precollegiate Education and Training. For more information, visit www.ufyoungentrepreneurs.org.

“I can’t promote the program enough. It looks good on your resume, but it’s so much more than that,” Godfrey said. “The physical transition you get to see is amazing, and the gratification you receive is unbelievable.”