The fourth annual Career Exploration Lunch was held Thursday, May 14 at Benham Hall at SHARC.
Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kristine Thomas, South County Collaborative Program Director Sarah Cochran and Three Rivers School Councilor Malie Niebergall organized the lunch for about 100 middle school students from Three Rivers School and 100 students from La Pine Middle Schol along with more than 80 volunteers.
“The goal of the lunch is not for students to leave knowing what career they want to do,” Thomas said. “Instead, it’s a chance for them to start thinking about what their interests are and to be able to talk with adults about their careers.”
The organizers are extremely grateful to the volunteers who represented careers ranging from automotive technicians to doctors and firefighters to veterinarians.
“The Career Exploration Luncheon was a success because the volunteers’ efforts, including taking the time to rearrange their schedule to show up for students, helping them gain some insight into their career path and giving them a real example of what having a commitment to community participation looks like, and in such a meaningful way, too! We simply could not have done this without you, so again, thank you so much for being part of our event,” Cochran said.
Thomas said the event is truly a stellar example of community collaboration.
“The lunch would not be possible if it weren’t for everyone who lent a hand whether it was hosting a fundraising, donating items for gift bags or providing financial support,” Thomas said.
Thank you to the following for making the lunch possible:
- Bowtie Catering for providing the lunch.
- Aspire, Rotary Club of Sunriver La Pine, Century Commons Taps & Trucks, South County Collaborative, Sunriver Saturday Market, Newberry Regional Partnership and Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce for providing financial support.
- SHARC and Sunriver Owners Association for your awesome staff members, especially Kaitlin Horvath, events manager for SHARC and for the use of the room.
- Sunriver Music Festival, Visit Central Oregon, Deschutes Public Library, Sunriver Oktoberfest and First Interstate Bank for donating items to the gift bags.
- St. Charles Health Systems with special thanks to Carlos Salcedo, CDP, Manager, Community Partnerships, who organized and sponsored the guest speaker.
- Scott Crabtree is the “Chief Happiness Officer” of Happy Brain Science. Thank you to Scott for his excellent presentation and for his insightful information. Please visit www.happybrainscience.com to learn more about Scott’s work.
- To the more than 80 volunteers. This event is only possible because of your time and your commitment to the vision of helping middle school students began to think about possible career paths. Thank you for being role models to the youth in our community.
- To anyone who we forgot to thank!
If you are interested in learning more about the lunch, donating to it, providing items for the students’ gift bags, volunteering or being on the committee, please contact exec@sunriverchamber.com. Plans will begin for the 2027 lunch in September.