CCESL puts $2,000 grant to use with MLK Day of Service events
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, over 80 students filled 91女神鈥檚 UC Grand Room to spend an afternoon giving back to the community.
Supplies filled a long row of tables where students could put together cold-weather care packages for low-income elderly citizens in Jackson County.
Each care package included fire starters, hand and toe warmers, a lighter, and an encouraging handwritten letter that would be passed along with Project FIRE wood deliveries that would be taking place later that week. This service event was put on by WCU鈥檚 Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning who received a grant to create the care packages that would accompany the fire deliveries.
Project FIRE, a program run by Jackson County鈥檚 Department on Aging, cuts, splits, and delivers firewood to low-income seniors who depend on it for their primary heating or cooking fuel. Each year volunteer groups help deliver over 200 loads of firewood around the county. One of those groups is Cullowhee United Methodist Church which is situated on WCU鈥檚 campus.
The service event was made possible with a $2,000 grant received from North Carolina Campus Engagement, a collaborative network of colleges and universities which prioritizes civic and social responsibility and community engagement. WCU was one of 11 colleges within the state of North Carolina to receive a grant from the NC Campus Engagement to put on MLK Day of Service Events.
WCU's Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning partnered with Cullowhee United Methodist Church, WCU鈥檚 Global Black Studies Program, Alpha Phi Alpha, and other student run organizations to put on the event.
鈥淚 think another emphasis of this day is engaging people from all backgrounds in doing the service,鈥� said Joy Mischley, director of CCESL. 鈥淕reek life will be involved, and first-generation students, we are reaching out to as many different departments, clubs, and organizations to participate.鈥�
There are only two federally recognized national days of service, and CCESL stressed that this is not a day off from classes but a day for students and community members to ask themselves, 鈥渨hat am I doing for others?鈥� The day embodied Dr. King鈥檚 vision of service and connected the resources of the university with the needs of the community. Dr. King stressed that 鈥渆verybody can be great because anybody can serve.鈥�
The morning started with a march led by Alpha Phi Alpha that honored the memory of Dr. King. The director of Global Black Studies, Dr. Fredick Douglass Dixon, spoke about Dr. King鈥檚 legacy of service and 鈥淭he Beloved Community.鈥� The Beloved Community is a vision Dr. King had that people of different backgrounds can come together and share in the wealth of the earth.
This legacy was embodied throughout the week鈥檚 events as members of Greek Life, sports teams, students from a variety of majors, faculty from various departments, and members of the local community came together to serve a community need.
The legacy of Dr. King is celebrated every year, yet these service days are not isolated to a single week or a day. The CCESL office puts on service projects throughout the year, and Project FIRE and Cullowhee United Methodist Church meet every Saturday throughout the colder months to chop and deliver firewood.
鈥淏eing able to see other people in the community who are so willing to jump in and ask 鈥楬ow can we help? What can we do?鈥� makes a huge impact,鈥� Newman said. 鈥淚t opens the doors for all of the western family to become involved.鈥�