Nonprofit, MSU students team up to serve local seniors

Seven students from Michigan State University (MSU) traveled to St. Augustine during their spring break in March and volunteered with Council on Aging (COA) to work on several projects to help local seniors.

The students visited as part of a program called Alternative Spartan Breaks in partnership with local nonprofit organization, Don's Friends. This is the seventh year MSU students have come to St. Augustine to spend their spring vacations working in service to local elders.

Don’s Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created 14 years ago in memory of Don Ausman, a Michigan State University student who passed away at the age of 22. His parents, Renee and Jim Wauldron, started the foundation to honor Don and continue his spirit of service in the world. During Don’s time at MSU, he had been a participant in the alternative spring break program, traveling to Mexico and Africa during his breaks to work on projects to help the local communities there. His plans after graduation had also involved helping others. After graduation, Don had planned to teach English in Japan for three years, and then return to Africa to serve in the Peace Corps.

“Don had such a will to be of service, and such a spirit of adventure,” his mother, Renee, said. “We started Don’s Friends to keep that spirit alive in the world and to support other students who share his desire to make a difference.”

This year the MSU students constructed two wheelchair ramps for local St. Augustine residents as part of COA’s Care Connection volunteer ramp crew.

The students also cleaned up the yard of a senior resident, delivered meals to homebound elders on two Meals on Wheels routes and volunteered in COA’s Coastal Community Senior Center and Sunshine Center adult daycare in St. Augustine.

"It was so special to come on this trip, because you're working hard in school and you have so much stress in classes and decisions you need to make for your future,” one of the MSU students shared. ”But then you have this chance to get away from that for spring break and do something meaningful for someone who may not be able to do it for themselves."

To fund the Don Ausman Alternative Spartan Breaks Endowment at MSU, Don’s Friends holds the annual Endless Summer 10K & 5K Run/Walk. The event includes two separate races: a 10K cross-country run on the beach and through the woods, and a 5K beach walk/run. This year’s events will be held on Nov. 18 and will start at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine. The races are for all ages, and awards are given out in several categories.

Space is limited and the races typically sell out months ahead of time. To register to participate and for more information, go to donsfriend.com.

“We are so grateful that local seniors are benefiting from the work of all of Don’s friends — the Don’s Friends foundation, his family, the participants in the Endless Summer races and the MSU students who devote their spring breaks to working in service to our elders,” said COA Executive Director Becky Yanni. “We are very thankful to be among Don’s friends.”