Have you ever wanted to make a direct impact on the community around you? Well, now is the perfect time to get involved! Another school year means another semester of numerous community projects and fundraisers taking place in every major. If you were looking to act now, there is no better time to help out a local non-profit organization, Gulf Coast Kids House.

The collaboration between the Communications Department’s class, Communication Leadership (COM 4103), and the Gulf Coast Kids House is now making headway. There are various ways you can help, including attending local events, fundraising, and staying informed about what’s happening in your surrounding community. 

Now, you’re probably wondering exactly how you can do all those things mentioned above. Fortunately, we have all the information you need to lend a helping hand below.

Upcoming GCKH events:

Sat. Sept. 20 – Wisteria Charity Cup Beer Fest

Fri. Oct. 3 – NE Sertoma Golf Tournament

Sat. Oct. 18 – Axles for Alzheimer’s & The Kid’s car show

Sun. Oct. 19 – The Longest Table event

Sun. Oct. 26 – Mystic Rodeo fundraiser at Supposey Warehouse https://www.instagram.com/p/DNYDyAsAtGN/

Sun. Oct. 26 – GCKH Brunch & Bubbles

While the class would appreciate any support in numbers, they also recognize that they understand the hectic life of a college student. So if you can’t make it to any events, no worries. There’s a way you can make an impact right from where you are reading this article. The “Know Child Abuse” training courses provided by Gulf Coast Kids House will educate and raise awareness about the issues we face in Escambia County. Below are the instructions on how to participate so it will count towards this class, as well as a donation flyer with our Venmo and PayPal accounts, through which we are raising funds.

Link to Know Child Abuse: https://knowchildabuse.gulfcoastkidshouse.org/Training/GetStarted/

Instructions:

1. Navigate to the link in a different tab
2. Select “organization” when asked, “Are you with an organization or just an individual wanting to educate yourself?”
3. Select the drop-down menu of available organizations and scroll down to “UWF Communications Class Fall 2025.”
4. Next, provide all the information and schematics that they are asking for, and then in the section “Type of organization are you affiliated with?” select “College/University”
5. Then, voila, you can continue with the training, which takes around 30-40 minutes. This will award you a certificate, as well as additional points towards the people this class brought awareness to this semester.

While there are multiple ways that students can make an impact on their surrounding community, whether it is through non-profit or local work, a capstone or a semester-long assignment, or by simply looking at your university’s student newspaper, we can make a massive difference if we all do our part. Once again, we urge you to help COM 4103 in any way possible whether it’s through showing up to support in numbers at events, taking the training, or donating, any and all would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions concerning how or need help, email: [email protected] or [email protected]