Caring Camels are coming your way

Raise your hand if you've ever wanted to volunteer while in Buies Creek but didn't know how.

High five! After reading this post you'll know exactly how.

New to the service side of Campbell is Caring Camels, a cutesy name for a serious program that will help prospective tutors and mentors figure out which local tutoring or mentoring agency is right for them. To prevent saying the words "tutor" and "mentor" fifty times in one paragraph, we're going to refer to them as "volunteers."

Caring Camels manages a two-way relationship between the student body and the Harnett County education community. The program itself will manage profiles of and communication with local tutoring/mentoring organizations while at the same time matching volunteers with such organizations.

Scenario: Rachael wants to help elementary school students with math and knows about a couple local programs but is unsure what to do. Instead of chasing information in circles on Google, she comes to Caring Camels. After an application and get-to-know-you discussion, Caring Camels helps Rachael figure out that perhaps tutoring at either Buies Creek Elementary School or Baptist Fellowship of Angier would be best because 1. those organizations need math tutors, and 2. they need math tutors during hours that fit Rachael's schedule.

If you think volunteering to help local kids sounds like you but you're not sure of expectations or maybe you think tutoring is just for geeks, check out our in-house definitions:

Tutoring is academically based and a form of supplemental education. A tutor helps a student with material that he or she doesn’t understand in class and needs additional help with outside school hours. A tutor must not only have a mastery of the subject matter but also be able to explain it in a simplified form applicable to the student. A tutor must understand that tutoring is not about gaining for him or herself. It’s a selfless activity to build up the student and to help him or her carry and eventually release the burden of their academic struggle. In addition to teaching academic material a quality tutor will exhibit positive characteristics that exemplify a responsible adult: punctuality, encouragement to the student, a positive attitude, and consistence in attendance.

Mentoring is relationship based and a form of supplemental quality time. A mentor spends healthy quality time with a mentee when quality time at home is not available to the mentee for various reasons. A mentor must understand that mentoring is not about gaining for him or herself. It’s a selfless activity to build up the mentee and to help him or her carry and potentially release the burden of a possible personal struggle. A mentor must set aside time to focus on the mentee. A quality mentor will exhibit positive characteristics that exemplify a responsible adult: punctuality, encouragement to the mentee, a positive attitude, and consistence in attendance.

I'm sure you noticed some common threads. Whether you're helping a middle school student be baller on the court or showing a fourth grader how to do long division, you need to show up and lift up.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming publicity around campus, including via Facebook, everyone's favorite brain drainer.

Mentoring can also mean spending time with special needs adults at the annual BSU Spring Fling.

Busy as a bee

I can't believe it's been almost a month since Service Learning @ Campbell's last post! Time has flown and the last few weeks have been full of activities and blossoming ideas. Campbell students are in full swing, the football team has lost two games, and it's 95 degrees out with low humidity-- all signs that autumn is settling in Buies Creek.

Check out how faith, learning, and service have been excelling on campus:

- The first annual 9/11 Day of Service was a hit. Seventy students woke up early Saturday morning to give back in honor of the soldier(s) in their lives. All six projects went well and we can't wait to see what happens next year!

- The poverty miniseries is coming together. Speakers formerly in poverty or currently working with the impoverished will explore with us how poverty is more than just being poor. Check out the Facebook page for dates and times.

- If you want to get involved in tutoring or mentoring, you're at the right place at the right time. We're developing a service to help you figure out which organization is the best fit for you based on the mutual goals, schedules, and abilities of you and a tutoring or mentoring organization.


- Driving down Route 55 between Buies Creek and Angier will show you that it's picking season for North Carolina's migrant workers. The NC Farmworkers Project needs volunteers at its Thursday night clinics (May - October) to facilitate the clinics, present health information, translate, and just spend time with the migrant workers. If any of those activities are up your alley, give me a shout and we'll set you up to impact our community.


Lastly, as the temperatures cool and the holidays come around, I encourage you to step outside your own world and take a look at what others need. It could be something as simple as your neighbor needing a free babysitter for a night, or perhaps a family at church could use some help buying groceries this week. Or maybe, as we'll learn through the poverty miniseries, that needs related to poverty aren't always financial. Be a friend to the lady on your street who lives alone or be a role model to the too-skinny little kids always hanging out where they shouldn't be. Your purpose on earth is not to live for yourself.

This camel is also busy as a bee.