Hand in hand with open hearts

When Phyllis Siskel isn't volunteering to sort food at All Faiths Food Bank, she can be found serving students at both Sarasota Military Academy schools. At the AFFB event Bowls of Hope Sunday, Nov. 8 cadets from Sarasota Military Academy presented Siskel with a handmade clay bowl with the inscription that reads "Hand in hand with open hearts."

"I was very surprised and I appreciate the gift," Siskel said. 

At the Bowls of Hope event attendees all left with handmade bowls from artists and local students as keepsakes of the bowls they are helping fill from the event. But the one Siskel received will serve as a reminder of the hearts she's helped. 

"We wanted to find a way as a staff to show the place that Phyllis holds in our school and hearts," said Ryan Simonson, a military studies instructor at SMA Prep.