Palmer Home Teens Working Hard to Help Nonprofit

Teens from Palmer Home for Children are working hard to support their home and others like it, while learning real-world skills in customer service, in order to prepare them for life as young adults. And that’s Good for Business!

Courtesy of The Dispatch

Teenage residents of Columbus’ Palmer Home for Children have been helping fans on MSU game day to find parking at Cadence Bank, right across the street from The Mill. The teens collect the $20 parking fees – all of which goes to the Palmer Home locations in Columbus and Hernando, as well as a partner location in Tennessee. In addition to helping them to raise much-needed funding, it also raises awareness of the fact that the children’s homes even exist. The local Palmer Home provides a home, food, clothing, and education for about 112 local children who might not otherwise have had ready access to any of those things.

Tom Green, director of operations and facilities at Palmer Home, supervises the children as they provide the service. “The objective is to get these young (people) in a different social environment, let them present themselves, let them talk to the patrons of the parking lot,” Green said. “But, most important, it teaches them life skills of engaging with people, making change and giving instructions.”

Marketing director Kellum Kim said that the Palmer Parking project, which began during the 2014 season, has raised about $30,000 in that time, or about $2,500 per game.
“It’s important for them to learn just that face-to-face interaction in a business setting,” Kim said. “A lot of our kids do have after-school jobs or volunteer in other capacities, so it’s not just like they’re here on our campus never socializing with the outside world. But a lot of their jobs are here on our campus.”

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