The event occurred on Saturday.  Here is a story shared by Philip Poole, our Executive Director of University Communication:

One of the Samford Gives Back Day projects that I covered this morning involved 14 members of Delta Omicron at Galleria Woods nursing facility in Hoover. I wanted to share this with you because it’s one of the best SGB Day things I’ve covered in my years here at Samford. I’ll also admit that it was especially emotional for me because it brought back memories of my own mother in her final months.  I arrived later than anticipated and missed the first 30 minutes or so of the students going down halls and from room-to-room singing and playing instruments, taking requests from individual residents. Rebekah Sexton, the program coordinator working with the students today, got so emotional trying to tell me about one incident that happened before my arrival. One of the students stopped in one room to play her violin for an Alzheimer’s resident who apparently is nonresponsive. As the student was playing, the resident starting mimicking her fingerings and tears were running down her cheeks. She was a former violinist! Rebekah said it a moving experience for everyone, especially since many of the residents in skilled care respond better to music than any other stimulus the staff can provide.  The students were kind, gentle, patient, loving, caring, sweet, friendly  -- everything you would hope and expect from Samford students. Ms. Sexton could not say enough positive things about our students and their willingness to do what they did. The responses from the students were equally inspiring and compelling and made me proud of all of them.

The world is better because a structured day of service at Samford last Saturday became a time of genuine, human connection.