�Monday, May 16th, 2016

To Whom It May Concern,

Over the course of the last semester, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Samantha, who served as The Collegiate Merchandising Associations Community Service Chair. Samantha first joined CMA about a year ago, as a bright eyed freshman and immediately upon her joining the organization, I knew she would be an integral part of the revamping of the club. She proved her dedication to the organization in her first semester by attending meetings, writing blog posts & representing Florida State University on volunteer trips to Fashion Weeks. Her devotion, willingness and fresh ideas exceeded expectations and landed her the role of Community Service Chair.

As President and a member of the organization for the last 4 years, I knew that this would just be an entry role for Samantha. As long as she maintained a consistent work ethic and produced content that our mainly female target audience would enjoy, I could see her going far in this clubs leadership. So far, Samantha has surpassed every goal with flying colors and I am very confident in her advancement in this club. Under Samantha’s leadership thus far, in Spring 2016 CMA had it’s most successful community service event yet- a clothing drive. While this is something we have tried in the past with little success, with Samantha’s creative spin and ambition, the organization collected 100’s of clothing items to be donated to the Women’s Shelter here in Tallahassee. This semester was a building semester for CMA, and Samantha effortlessly helped the transition by growing and maintaining relationships with retailers, members & university faculty. She picked up slack wherever she saw it, regardless of if it fell under her job title. She truly was the change she wanted to see.

The Collegiate Merchandising Association would not have had such a successful semester, averaging 60+ members per meeting without Samantha's knowledge of the industry, and dedication to it. Even when faced with challenging situations, Samantha’s passion for CMA continues to shine- which is a quality extremely rare to come by in college-aged students. Samantha understands CMA’s mission and values and I am confident she will prove the same to you for your own organization. I am excited to see where she will take the club as this year’s Vice President, and during the rest of her time at Florida State University.

Sincerely,

Kaitlyn CookPresident of The Collegiate Merchandising Association at Florida State University 407-473-9970kc12u@my.fsu.edu