Director changes lives one student at a time
A pile of folders tower over Kendall Stiles on her desk barely making out her face behind it, but you can still hear her cheery, southern sweet twang on the phone.
She is a cheerleader, a mentor, and an inspiration to the students that come and gone in the GIVE Center for the past 11 years. She has been the ambassador for hope and encouragement for more than a decade and she has built the GIVE Center program from scratch providing a volunteering outlet, so she can help students reach out to their communities.
She has helped organized countless charity drives and fundraisers, but today she is organizing folders after folders of old and new volunteers that need to catalogued.
“It’s an organized mess,” Kendall says of the clutter of shirts, bows, and gifts. She had just taken a break from planning the décor and the give-away for the upcoming Dance Marathon for Children’s Miracle Network, on top of organizing volunteers for this fall’s Potato Drive.
She is constantly on the go, constantly moving, and constantly planning an event, all to raise awareness for a cause or a charity somewhere.
In a way, Kendall’s brain is much like her surroundings. Busy, cluttered, and in disarray.
“I’m so busy,” Kendall said. “I don’t have much time for organization. I’m constantly on the go.”
But unlike hoarders, or, people that are prone to messes, Kendall’s clutter is what gives the GIVE Center a feeling of home and a feeling of ease, unlike any other establishment in the school that calls for order and pristine presentation.
The GIVE Center has become not only the center office for volunteer groups on campus, but also a storage for the many things used to run charity events from themed decors, to office supplies, to blankets. It’s an emporium for things that are needed and random. It’s the building version of Mary Poppin’s magic bag.
Kendall is very much the same way. She is as cheesy as those mottos adorning walls and doors and as sincere and as knowledgeable as the quotes say. She is as random as the mismatched couches in the hallway. She is an emporium of memories and goodness that she collected from the legion of volunteers and their stories that has enriched her life.
She has spent most of her life trying to find aid for those in need and serving as a platform for students who want to make a difference.
Megan White, a senior and one of Dance Marathon’s organizers, has been a servant leader with the GIVE Center since her freshman year.
“I asked Kendall what can I do to help, and she did more than just tell me how to go about it,” Megan said. “She showed me how and she helped me learn where my passion is, which is children’s causes.”
Becca Walden, a junior, relates a similar story.
“If it wasn’t for Kendall, I would have never met so many wonderful people,” Walden said.
Becca is the president of Sequins and Smiles, an organization that helps impoverished teenage girls get the homecoming and prom dresses of their dreams thanks to donations from girls who will most likely only wear their dresses once.
“She has helped me understand and brought me to a place where not only I can help myself feel better but help other girls in the process. I’m making a difference,” Walden said.
Making a difference is what Kendall preaches snd encourages everyone around her to do. It’s her heart. And it’s her lifestyle.
“Once you start making a difference and make a habit of it, you just can’t stop.” Kendall said. “It’s already there for most people. They just need an outlet to plug it in and that’s what the GIVE Center is for.”
Kendall is eternally positive, mothering volunteers to do better, cheering them on at their every event, and letting them know it’s ok when they dodn’t quite meet their goal.
She is adamant about giving praise and recognizing the numerous volunteers, but is unusually reserved and shy when asked about hers. She tells everyone to track hours but hasn’t tracked her service hours since college.
“I don’t need to be recognized,” Kendall said humbly. “I don’t really care for an award. I’d do it anyway even if they weren’t paying me to or requiring me to.”
She is a woman of contrast from organizing every event in her unorganized office, to her slow southern twang dispelling words faster than a Nascar, and her impossibly polite and southern hospitality despite her busy schedule. People that know Kendall say that she will always make time to visit and talk with visitors even if that means she’ll be late somewhere.
“She doesn’t want to miss out on what you’re doing in your life,” assistant Paul Sedor said. “She’s not being nosy. She just wants you to know that her interest goes far beyond volunteering.”
And as she fondly looks at the stacks of folders before her and raves about the amazing people she gets to work with everyday, one can only wonder if she knows how many people feel lucky to work with her.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 21 2008. Filed under News.
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