UGA-Community Partnership Recognized by International Town & Gown Association

“We are incredibly grateful to have such a strong partnership with the University of Georgia,” said ACCA President and CEO Eve Anthony. “This partnership has exposed thousands of UGA students to the issues older adults face. But it not only exposes them to issues like food insecurity, transportation, access to health care—all those critical issues— it also exposes them to the beauty of aging.”

Anthony accepted the ITGA Presidential Excellence Award at the 2025 ITGA City & University Relations Conference held at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. ITGA is a global nonprofit association that unites college and university administrators, city officials and campus neighbors to collaborate on issues of campus and community.

“The Presidential Excellence Award was created in 2013 as a way to highlight those who have demonstrated exceptional performance in building community, relationships, well-being, resiliency or education achievements in town-gown communities,” said ITGA President Cooper Healey. “This year, we were blown away by ACCA’s absolutely stunning submission on their sustainable and community-driven work throughout Athens, Georgia.” 

ACCA, a nonprofit organization founded in 1967, serves more than 16,000 older adults across 67 counties in Georgia every year. The organization collaborates with a wide variety of UGA departments and works with hundreds of volunteers, many of whom are UGA students, faculty and staff, to promote numerous wellness programs and activities to support, engage and advocate for seniors.

ACCA began extensively partnering with UGA’s Office of Service-Learning, one of the eight units of UGA Public Service and Outreach, about 15 years ago to develop service-learning courses and programs that connect UGA students to older adults in their community. One of the largest collaborations each year is Turkeypalooza, an all-hands-on-deck event that connects volunteers across ACCA, the OSL’s Campus Kitchen at UGA and UGA Public Service and Outreach Student Scholars to gather food and prepare hundreds of Thanksgiving meals. Since 2015, Turkeypalooza volunteers have delivered more than 4,200 turkeys, 1,200 cooked meals and nearly 2,000 grocery bags to families throughout the community.  

“What makes our partnership so successful is the communication and trust we have built over the years,” said OSL Director Shannon Brooks. “I trust ACCA to always open their doors to our students and faculty, and I know they trust us to step up and help meet the needs of seniors in our community. This is a mutually beneficial partnership that provides UGA students with lifelong skills and helps expand ACCA’s outreach and system of support.”

Accepting the award, Anthony highlighted the fact that, soon, there will be more people over the age of 65 than those under the age of 18, which is why it is so important to introduce college students to opportunities where they can develop relationships with older adults.

“Each student who comes into our organization can start to see that life doesn’t end at 60, and we can still be active, and we can still contribute to society,” Anthony said. “The thousands of seniors who have the opportunity to work with students and with faculty has made not only our organization better, but our community better.”