On September 13, a group of 10 alumni from the FLEX Alumni community in Lithuania, including an alumna from Kyrgyzstan who is currently living in Lithuania volunteered at the largest running event in the country – The Vilnius Marathon. Alumni helped out throughout the race by handing out water to hundreds of runners at water stations along the marathon route. In addition to volunteering, alumni had the opportunity to promote the FLEX Program by handing out pamphlets to people and encouraging them to apply for the program at a fair in Cathedral Square, the main square in Vilnius and the location of the race’s finish line.
Alumni took advantage of this chance of being together in public and promoting FLEX to film a promotional video. They filmed “20 Questions”, a video where alumni answered 20 questions about their exchange year in the U.S. You can find it on their Instagram page @flexalumnilt.
This volunteering event was a great success and was highlighted by the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania on their Facebook page with the comment that “the FLEX alumni demonstrated that volunteerism is a great way to build a diverse community and make a lasting impact on society and acted as great advocates of their exchange programs and the impact of public diplomacy!”
Written by Rugile Kriksciunaite ’17 (Vilnius, Lithuania/Fort Collins, CO)
