Cornerstone Kids is a club dedicated to serving at-risk children in the Seminole Heights area.
Specifically, it’s a service-based club that works to help children in Tampa through various activities, which include tutoring, school parties, playing games, and giving them a hot meal. These students volunteer every Thursday for two hours and during club meetings, they work to create games to play with the kids during the week.
Club leader Annabelle Bennett (‘26) said, “My sister started the club and my family served as donors. I also volunteered before high school. Since I already had lots of experience with the club, I decided to join my freshman year.”
Club moderator Sofia Curry (‘16) said that “On top of giving, our girls have the opportunity to instill different levels of knowledge to kids. It shows them how to make a direct impact on kids and their happiness. Also, it gives a lot of structure to their lives. The stories that I hear from the girls from the club, they talk about building those relationships with the students that they see, which has a great impact on both the girls and the kids.”
She also connected this to the Academy’s SNJM core values, and she said that the Full Development of the Human Person and Hospitality are two core values that the club exemplifies. The members are shown how to be welcoming to children of various ages and be able to meet them in every stage of life. She also said that it essentially shows them how to work with others in order to help the children’s development.
The club is supported through various events and activities throughout the year in order to fundraise for the club. Events include an annual gala where cornerstones, staff, and donors reunite to raise money for the organization. Moreover, at the Academy, bake sales take place every so often to both raise money and awareness for the club and cause. Through this, the club has reached the point of full capacity, meaning that no new members can join the club.
Curry (‘16) said that “It’s a pretty bittersweet feeling, for sure. I love that there’s so much passion behind the organization. I wish that it could reopen to more people because I know there’s interest from people that have never had the chance to be in the club. But there’s a lot of people already, so it’s time.”
Curry also said that she plans a possible collaboration with the Hands of Hope Committee in the future to be able to make an even bigger impact in the community.
