Innovative Projects
Virtual Human Project
This project employed one student from B-CU who integrated virtual human technology into our social media campaigns. The student developed 30-second to 1-minute videos promoting health education, including but not limited to screening, statistics, the science of different diseases, and the promotion of clinical trials locally and at UF. Volusia County is in the Catchment area for Shands Hospital, the University of Florida’s Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville. One Computer Science student worked on this project with Dr. Ben Lok and Dr. Janice Kergier from UF. Using the virtual assistant, the student develops 3 reels for IG and Tiktoc and posts them to our social media weekly.
Condom Run Project
Condom Run occurred three times a year, each during major tourist events, such as Bike Week, Spring Break, and Biketober Fest. The City of Daytona Beach's economy is driven by tourism, and these three events bring thousands of tourists to this area, which increases risky behavior that leads to the spread of STIs. Therefore, our goal was to create awareness by developing targeted messaging communication campaigns and providing condoms for free in environments where these different events occurred. We created condom pals, which were condoms packaged in a reusable container. The containers were labeled with the contact information for one of our community partners, who offers free HIV screening, low-cost STI testing, and free mental health counseling. We passed out over 500 condom pals and increased HIV testing by 50% within 2 months.
Sensory Friendly Haunted House
On Oct. 31st, 2023, from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm, we created a haunted house open to the community with a sensory-friendly hour with our community partners, Easterseals Autism Center for Excellence. The second hour was open for all community members. Children had to be accompanied by an adult aged 18 and over during the community event. We also hosted a truck-or-trick Health Fair outside the Science Building in the parking lot so that the families could exit the building and gain information and treats. Student Affairs ensured that other student organizations volunteered for the Trunk-or-Treat Health Fair or the Haunted House. In addition, we donated 50% of the earnings to Easterseal’s Center of Excellence.