Going Above and Beyond

We're not biased. We have the best volunteers in town.

Well, perhaps we’re a little biased, but we believe it's true because of the stories we hear about them. Stories like the one we heard when we recently sat down with LCU President, Dr. Tim Perrin.

The purpose of our visit was to thank Dr. Perrin for LCU’s participation in the 2017 United Way Campaign and to share what’s coming up. As conversation usually does, one topic led to another and eventually worked its way around to the phenomenal job Shannon Sudduth did as LCU’s Campaign Coordinator and as a volunteer for the Loaned Executive program. 2017 was Shannon’s second year to serve as a Campaign Coordinator and Loaned Executive, and Dr. Perrin couldn’t help but gloat about his talented Media Relations Coordinator.

He asked us if we knew about the bake sale Shannon put together for the last day of LCU’s campaign. We had not heard about it, and Dr. Perrin proceeded to tell us about an above and beyond moment.

LCU’s campaign was running very close to what they raised in the 2016 campaign, and Shannon was determined to surpass that amount. With just a few days to go, she decided to make one last push to make sure the university exceeded their goal. To that end, Shannon put together a bake sale for the faculty and staff and stayed up all night the day before baking just a few more cakes for the sale, going above and beyond.

Prior to returning to her alma mater for her current position, Shannon worked for one of our Partner Agencies, the Salvation Army of Lubbock. It was there she first came to understand how important United Way is in our community. For instance, thanks to the generous support of United Way donors, Salvation Army served 154,517 meals, passed out 7,293 hygiene kits, and provided 30,827 nights of shelter in 2017.

Knowing what it is to be on the receiving end of community generosity, Shannon wanted to do all she could to give LCU staff and faculty the opportunity to be generous. Shannon told us, “being able to help other people comes naturally to our students, faculty, and staff… I think it’s important for us to be involved with each other.” Shannon knew supporting United Way was a great way to get people involved.

Her late-night baking paid off. The bake sale raised an additional $360 toward LCU’s United Way Campaign, putting them $226 above their 2016 giving – an above and beyond moment resulting in more dollars that equal more opportunities to help people in need in our South Plains communities.

“It was a really rewarding [experience],” Shannon told us, and she hopes to continue to be involved in running LCU’s United Way Campaign in the future. She added that she would tell someone looking to get involved, “Volunteer as much as possible. Get in contact with United Way and let them know you want to get involved.” The result in our biased opinion? More above and beyond moments making an impact in the lives of our neighbors.