GAI staff volunteers served a hearty meal at Quest Inc.’s camp for adults with developmental disabilities.
GAI civil engineer Aimee Shields, PE, MBA recently faced one of her most vexing challenges: How much spaghetti do you prepare to feed 100 people?
Shields and a team of GAI employee volunteers successfully met that challenge on June 17 when they came together to prepare and serve dinner for adult attendees of Quest’s Camp Thunderbird in Apopka, FL.
“I love opportunities where we can put our support for the community into direct action,” said Shields, who organized GAI’s participation in the event. A dozen volunteers from GAI’s Orlando office drawn from the firm’s Community Infrastructure team and Community Solutions Group (CSG) pitched in to make the meal with other GAI staff supporting the event with food and cash contributions.
Back row, l-r: Dylan Shields; Brian Shields; Carter Shields; VP Kathy Leo, PE, Community Infrastructure Business Leader; Laura Ford, Sr. Project Designer, Community Infrastructure; Nick Leyva, PE, Sr. Project Engineer, Community Infrastructure; Jacob Crabtree, EI, Sr. Engineering Intern, Community Infrastructure; Nathalia Kail, PhD, Sr. Engineer-in-Training, Community Infrastructure; Jonathan Higley, Intern, Community Infrastructure.
Front row, l-r: Ruth Perry, PLA, Sr. Landscape Architect Manager, CSG; Grady Shields; Aimee Shields, PE, MBA, Sr. Project Manager, Community Infrastructure; Paloma Prieto, Landscape Designer, CSG; Dolshi Patel, Landscape Designer, CSG; Katja Rocha, PLA, Landscape Architect, CSG; Greg Kolb, PE, Engineering Director, Community Infrastructure.
GAI + Quest, Inc. = A Recipe for Success
A GAI client for approximately 10 years, Quest, Inc. is a Florida-based organization that offers programs, accommodations, and support to the local individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community. Quest’s Camp Thunderbird offers engaging week-long overnight sessions for adults with developmental disabilities.
GAI has provided a range of civil engineering, planning, and landscape architecture services for Quest, Inc. facilities, among them Quest Village, a 4.7-acre, multi-family residential complex offering 48 affordable units to the IDD community, and Quest Academy, a multi-purpose IDD-community learning and treatment facility that is currently undergoing relocation.
“Across the board, we’ve done planning feasibility studies to analyze development entitlements and site engineering and construction constraints as well as designing stormwater management systems, performing utilities analysis and integration plans, creating landscape architecture designs, and more,” said Shields. “All of this work is done with an eye toward making the highest and best use of the sites’ locations and natural features.”
Dinner Is Served!
In preparation for dinner night at Quest’s Camp Thunderbird, Shields called for outside help to solve the great pasta problem: “I reached out to a family friend who actually works as my kids’ school cafeteria chef,” she said. “He told me that 20 pounds of pasta will feed 100 people, can you believe it? I would have thought it was more.”
No one went hungry on dinner night, with campers happily enjoying their meals while the kitchen hummed with activity.
“Our volunteer turnout was great—we had all the people we needed to prepare, cook, and clean. And when we got busy, there wasn’t an idle hand in the bunch,” Shields said. “The volunteers were really excited to dig in and help. Everyone had their gloves on, prepping and plating the food … it was just all hands on deck, everyone doing their part, and it was awesome.” The volunteers shared the satisfaction of having campers come back for seconds, and the desserts went in an eyeblink.
Of course, a big dinner must give way to a big cleanup. “Everyone chipped in, and cleanup went by in a flash,” Shields said. “It’s pretty amazing to see people who you’ve only known from the office pitching in to scrub pots, and there’s our Vice President Kathy Leo grabbing the broom to sweep the floors…”
Continuing a Company Tradition
GAI’s volunteer event for Quest, Inc. is a continuation of the company’s long history of serving the communities surrounding its 34 locations in 14 states. Each year, GAI designates a corporate charity of choice to receive cash donations from company staff. Over the years, GAI charities of choice have included Building Homes for Heroes, United Way, Direct Relief, Make-A-Wish, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and others.
At the Quest Camp Thunderbird dinner, the coordination of GAI’s staff volunteers reflected the values of the company: people-first and dedicated to working together to achieve optimal outcomes.
“We provide a people-based service as a business, and when you have folks that want to come out after hours and do more, it’s a reminder that there are just so many good people here at GAI who truly care about the community and making it a better place for everyone,” said Shields. “It’s just big hearts here, and so much of that care goes into our work product as well. It was great to see how our volunteers came together—and I came away with the feeling that we had really done something good.”
Contact Aimee Shields, PE, MBA, 321.319.3041, for more information about GAI’s civil engineering services—message GAI and start the conversation about how our multidiscipline professionals can meet your unique project needs.
