Snowballs in the summer

If you've been on campus recently you know that it exploded with activity and energy the day students moved back. When the students arrived my schedule immediately picked up speed, which I'm grateful for becuase it means the students want to be involved with serving the community.

My focus over the last two or three weeks has been hammering out the details of the 9/11 Day of Service, which is all over this blog and hopefully all over Facebook (see aforementioned link). I have a list of confirmed projects, flyers hot off the press, and over a dozen students signed up before the biggest wave of advertisements even goes out.

Every few days I learn of more entire groups of students who want to help out. Freshmen businesss students, a floor of a dorm, and an academic club have all volunteered to give back the morning of 9/11. 

All that to say-- quite frankly, I'm surprised that students are coming to me (and with such enthusiasm) instead of me going them. I thought I was going to have to pull teeth to have even decent attendance for the 9/11 Day of Service, not because I think students are self-centered, but because they have a life full of obligations to fulfill. The event has snowballed (in a good way) into something bigger than my organizational abilities and poster-making skills. 

(Hip, hip, hooray!)

As many students as we've had express interest, today I added another community partner to the list of service opportunities for 9/11. Local women's shelter S.A.F.E. of Harnett County needs a couple rooms and a fence painted. I personally have never even seen a women's shelter (which I think is the idea), and I'm hoping because of circumstances that lead to being in a shelter, our students haven't either. I think painting at the shelter, as "minor" a job it is, will offer students a glimpse into life most Americans only see on Law and Order or CSI.

My hope for the 9/11 Day of Service is that it's the pebble in the lake that enacts a powerful and unstoppable ripple effect of service.

9/11 Day of Service

The summer is slowly melting away, which means September is right around the corner!

Every September 11 we ask ourselves where we were on that day in 2001. This year, however, look forward to where you can be. Our first annual 9/11 Day of Service exists to honor the day and those who served on that day with service projects in the community.

Here's the list of opportunities:

Community-wide food drive: Help man the on-campus food collection location or manage one of the community collection locations to benefit the Food Bank of Harnett County.

Make cards for deployed soldiers: Local organization Helping Hands for Heroes needs our help making greeting cards for deployed soldiers. Show them how much you care!

Interior church painting: Baptist Fellowship of Angier could use a few new coats. Spend the morning beautifying a place of worship and working your arms!

Literacy awareness: Inform the community about the importance of literacy and literacy opportunities at Harnett Literacy by canvassing neighborhoods with flyers and brochures.

Quality time with the elderly: Spend the morning playing Bingo with and bringing joy to the residents of Brookfield Assisted Living.

Registration will begin at the UCM Expo Night and continue at the Info Desk until September 3. As always, feel free to contact me for more information.

Bearing the burdens of others

The notion of serving the community is a historical but growing one at Campbell. And by "growing" I mean mushroom clouding into something massive and, as I wrote in an earlier post, something bigger than ourselves.

I've spent the the majority of this week calling around to different area non-profits to see if they could use a few business students help out. Every organization I speak with is overjoyed that not only does someone know about them and want to help, but that the help is able bodied college students with camels on their shirts (everything's more fun when you have a camel on your shirt).

Some of these organizations have worked with Campbell during Operation Inasmuch. Some of the staff of these organizations went to Campbell or have a grandchild or second cousin at Campbell. Some just drive by every day wondering how many fountains one university can handle. Either way, it seems every soul in Harnett County has a Campbell connection that further edifies their enthusiasm to work with us.

I'm noticing a pattern in my dialogue with these grateful non-profits. They exist to serve their communities and to satisfy needs, but the organizations themselves have great needs. The ripple effect of service hasn't quite reached them.

Whether service from Campbell comes in the form of relief to the non-profit organization or directly to the population in need, our time and efforts should alleviate the burden of poverty and want in our small corner of the world.