Students celebrated for more than 100 community service hours

March 13, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Center of Leadership and Service Tuesday night honored 61 students who completed more than 100 service hours within the past year.

The Presidential Service Award Reception was sponsored by the UF Office of the President.

Incorporating volunteer work into a busy schedule of classes, extracurricular activities and a social life is a challenge, and that is why UF — especially as a land-grant university — values these civic contributions, said Josh Funderburke, executive director of the UF Center for Leadership and Service.

The Presidential Service Award Reception began in the 2005-2006 academic year. At each ceremony, the Center for Leadership and Service chooses one student as the “Servant Leader of the Year.”

The 2013 winner is Casey Runte, an applied physiology and kinesiology senior. He spent more than 600 hours making strides in youth achievement, which included mentoring and coaching at the following locations: Camp Kesem, a national nonprofit organization that hosts one-week summer camps for children of cancer patients; Sidney Lanier Center in Gainesville, a PK-12 school that provides special education needs; and Williams Elementary School, a Gainesville elementary school.

Christine Stopka, a UF exercise therapy and adapted physical activity professor, wrote in a recommendation letter that she was convinced Runte was born to help others.

For more information on the UF Center for Leadership and Service, visit www.leadershipandservice.ufl.edu or call 352-392-1215.