Welcome to SOTA! S tudent O ccupational T herapy A ssociation

Who are we? SOTA's mission is to serve the community in areas related to occupational therapy while developing members' skills as future clinicians. The University of Florida Student Occupational Therapy Association is an organization of volunteers who create and stimulate an interest in the field of occupational therapy among University of Florida students. SOTA builds community with social activities and service projects.

Some Logistics… Our meeting times will be every other Monday at 5:10pm in G-201 There are no dues! (yay!) Meeting Minutes and updates can be found on our website sota.phhp.ufl.edu or our facebook page, SOTA at UF In order to remain active, you must have 5 points by the end of the semester - each service event, social, fundraiser, meeting, etc. are worth a certain amount of points, which will be designated according to the event -one of these 5 points must be a service point! -you must participate in the 5K fundraiser in some way as well! (more to come later in the meeting about this)

Our big service projects for the semester!

We will be hosting a 5k event in early April to raise money for an OT specialty clinic that is run through the equal access clinic network. We are going to have a fun theme, get sponsors to help raise money and have a run-tastic good time ! Date: Saturday, April 5 th, 2014 We are still working out the details, but stay tuned for more information to come! In order to be an active member of SOTA for this semester, participation in some way with this event is mandatory! 5k to benefit an OT specialty clinic that is run through the equal access clinic network !

Camp Boggy Creek! Camp Boggy Creek is a camp for kids with life threatening illnesses, and in the Fall and Spring, CBC gives families a chance to enjoy camp as well! There are many family weekends you can sign up for! They are a TON of fun, and it is a very rewarding experience! We are going as a group on April 11 th -13th play with kids! Visit boggycreek.org and go to the “volunteer” section to sign up! Hurry! Spots fill up quickly! We will be hosting a CBC sign up party after the next meeting! We know the application is long, so if we all sit out and do it together, it should go by a lot faster!

Hands to Love We are participating in Hands to Love Camp! It is a great weekend for children and their families with upper limb deformities They have activities such as archery, a rock wall, arts and crafts, and more! Camp is the weekend of April 11 th - 13 th Sign up online at -us/volunteer to get a volunteer packet

Camp Boggy Creek + Hands to Love Camp = A camp filled weekend!

Alz’s Place We are going as a group some day during the week of 1/20. – Possible date: Friday January, 24 th, 1-4pm – Waiting for her to confirm Moonlight and Martinis Gala- Al'z Place Fundraiser – Saturday, Febuary 1 st from 5:30-11pm at Mercedes Benz of Gainesville – Need volunteers to help with set up, serving, auction, and clean up

Stomp the Swamp for Autism Sat. 2/1 10am-12pm at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Benefits UF's Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Register online! – We are still figuring out how to register as a team, more on that once we have more info! Register before Jan. 20 and get a free t-shirt! Registration fee is $15

Gator Nights and Hope’s Lodge Two projects we are still working on… Gator Nights – If we work one Gator Night, we can get funding from SG for later socials and events! – Tentative Date: February 21 st Hope’s Lodge – A free, non-for-profit house to benefit caner patients and their families, so they can stay close to Shands for treatment without the financial burden associated with travel and hotel stays

AOTA Conference American Occupational Therapy Association's annual conference Who: All people who are in the OT field- professionals and students! What: The biggest OT conference of the year in the United States! A very big deal, in terms of being in the know of the latest OT things, for both students and professionals When: April 3-6 th, 2014 Where: Baltimore, Maryland! Why: (according to the AOTA website) Education, Leadership, Connections, Events, and Baltimore! And we get to send student delegate(s)!

Some other cool volunteer opportunities to participate in this semester!

Balance 180 o Orientation dates are Jan.27th from 5:30-7:00pm and January 29th from 5:30-7pm at the Santa Fe CIED in the knowledge room. o To volunteer contact Carrie Comstock or (407) Noah’s Endeavor o Adapted Aquatics, Basketball, Soccer, T-Ball, Paint n’ Play, Bowling, and more! o Contact Shelly Voelker at ; website: Al’z Place o (Elder Care) People with Alzheimer’s Disease; Recreational Therapy & more! o Monday – Friday 8am-5pm; Contact Robyn Katz, CTRS, Director, Horses Helping People (HOPE) o Hippotherapy & Therapeutic Horsebackriding for people w/disabilities; o Contact them via their website at: We will send out an with all of the information for these volunteer opportunities plus many more later this week, so keep an eye out! We found about 20 places looking for volunteers!

T-Shirts and fleeces and polos, oh my! We are selling more of our snazzy and awesome SOTA shirts this semester! We are also selling University of Florida Occupational Therapy polos … great for shadowing, grad school, and for nicer OT type events (conferences, etc) Also, we are selling fleeces ! Also great for shadowing, grad, school, school pride, and OT pride! We have a sign up sheet going around, so sign up if you want to pre-order any of the above! An with more details was also sent out last week. We will resend the again after this meeting for those who missed it! $15 $25

Thank you so much for coming! We are excited for a fantastic semester! Any questions? Our next meeting will be on Monday, Jan. 27 th at 5:10pm in G-201