The Ross Medical Education Center Erlanger, Kentucky campus has been quite busy this winter with multiple events to benefit their community. First, they wrote and sent in letters for A Million Thanks. A Million Thanks is an initiative that was started as a local cause in a town in California in 2004 by a 15 year old girl, Shauna Fleming. However, it quickly grew, nearly overnight. Her goal was a million letters of appreciation to the armed forces. That goal was surpassed and she even was able to meet President George W. Bush and present him with the millionth letter in the Oval Office. Now more than seven million letters have been distributed throughout the world to U.S. troops.
The Erlanger Ross students, staff, and faculty members were eager to write their own letters to servicemen and women throughout the world. They decided to write and send them in after observing September 11th and wanting to honor those serving in the military. Everyone was touched by the chance to positively impact the day of someone, especially that of a stranger who risks their life for our nation every day. “My father was a member of the Army, and something like this has not only a personal impact for me, but I know it has the same touching impact for a lot of our students with their own family members,” shared Assistant Campus Director of Admissions Aubrey Robinson.
Later, during the holidays, they joined the local Brighton Center and hosted a food drive to collect needed items for their neighbors during the holiday season. The Brighton Center works to provide help to those in need in the local community by supporting individuals as they overcome the obstacles that stand in their way of success and self-sufficiency.
From community and youth services to employment support and from housing help to senior services, the Brighton Center provides a variety of extremely meaningful services to help to those in the local community. The Ross campus in Erlanger was proud to join them as they collected food items to be distributed to these families during the holidays. They collected two large boxes of items and enjoyed another opportunity to partner with this worthwhile organization as they gave to the underprivileged in the community. Many staff and faculty members and students were thrilled for the chance to give to these families.
Everyone at the campus felt that this organization was an ideal one to donate to, especially since it is hard to imagine struggling for food around the holidays. Stephanie Horton, Financial Aid Student Support Representative from the Erlanger campus shared about the experience, “it’s great to see the students get excited about giving to those less fortunate, some of them know what is like to go without food.”