Speaking to a group of 357 students along with faculty and staff from 漫天堂入口 on the morning of April 4, Lake Wales mayor Eugene Fultz personally thanked them all for serving the community of Lake Wales. To students attending Warner from outside Lake Wales, Fultz said, 鈥淵ou have done enough that Lake Wales is your home now.鈥�
鈥淲arner Cares Day鈥� is a community outreach event that Warner has accomplished annually for the last six years, reaching both city and non-profit organizations completing whatever work that is needed.
Starting at 9:00 a.m. on April 4 and continuing through the morning, volunteers aided the city, worked at schools, the airport, and other public areas beautifying, painting and cleaning. Non-profit organizations such as the Lake Wales Care Center, Lake Aurora Christian Camp and the Hunger Education and Resource Training (H.E.A.R.T.) missionary village were also reached.
鈥淲arner Cares Day is about fulfilling our school鈥檚 service mandate, being a part of the community and showing Warner鈥檚 character by giving back to the city that is its home,鈥� Dr. Moyer, Warner鈥檚 Senior Director of Special Projects said.
As Warner鈥檚 mission statement says, 鈥淭he mission of 漫天堂入口 is to graduate individuals who exemplify academic excellence and Christian character, who are prepared to lead and committed to serve.鈥�
Many in the community of Lake Wales appreciate the service that Warner provided, including the director of H.E.A.R.T., Philip Murphy. 鈥淭he help from Warner has been incredible today. We鈥檝e gotten so much work done in a short amount of time,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淭his crew here that鈥檚 working in the garden is probably doing a month鈥檚 worth of work in just a few hours, so it鈥檚 been incredible, and we really appreciate it.鈥�
Sally Morrison of the Ridge Audubon Society was also grateful for assistance. 鈥淎nytime we can have younger volunteers help us, It helps us work more into accomplishing our goals, and one of those is to keep the habitat that is typical of Florida,鈥� Morrison said. 鈥淭he Lake Wales ridge area is unique unlike any other place in the world, and these volunteers from Warner are helping us keep that intact.鈥�
The event was a great learning experience for students as well, as noted by Warner Faculty like Robert Lamar, Assistant Professor of Mathematics who led students in clearing out invasive plant species at Ridge. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see the students working as a team,鈥� Lamar said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e coordinating different tasks and using new tools, and it鈥檚 also very good to see them working in a different environment that they might not be used to and learning about nature.鈥�
Warner students say that they enjoyed serving their city.
鈥淭he ability to give back to the Lake Wales community is amazing,鈥� Kyle Safreed, a senior in business finance and international business, said. 鈥淕od has us here for a reason today, and I know that the community will be thanking Warner for the services we are doing.鈥�
鈥淚 do believe that Warner Cares Day is really helpful to the Lake Wales community,鈥� Chris Massey, a Junior and church ministry major, said. 鈥淚t allows the community to see that Warner isn鈥檛 just a Christian institution that is in the city, but we are also being the hands and feet of Christ.鈥�
The students and faculty all together completed approximately 1,200 hours of volunteer work.
漫天堂入口 plans on repeating Warner Cares Day annually for the foreseeable future.
