At the heart of Lindenman’s fall English 110 class was a focus on academic writing as students developed their skills at argument and analysis. Those skills were then put to use during the second half of the class as students actively served the community in community writing projects.

Lindenman said she sought “to build confidence with academic and nonacademic writing and give students the tools they needed to tackle writing in an unfamiliar situation.” The class offered the opportunity to develop skills that could be put to use in both academic and nonacademic settings.

As part of the service learning portion of the class, students partnered with a community organization. One section worked alongside Alamance County Public Library while the other focused on the Alamance County Service League.

The Alamance County Service League, a local women’s organization, needed assistance campaigning for funds to support their partner programs, including Meals on Wheels and Family Abuse Services. Specifically, ACSL was looking for flyers, brochures and video content to promote their mission.

Lindenman’s students created informative and persuasive materials that are now available on the Alamance County Service League’s website. To accomplish these tasks, the students were divided into consulting teams and studied samples of different types of writing before using those types to craft messages for different platforms.

Those working with Alamance Public Libraries were immersed in creating an annual report to provide information to stakeholders with the goal of increasing library funding.

Students drew on their rhetorical skills to create infographics and persuasive content that displayed the achievements of these local community organizations. Service-learning is a crucial component to Lindenman’s class, as students develop writing skills while working to support real-world organizations.

In 2015, America Reads launched a new partnership with the School of Education. America Reads is a national initiative established in 1996, in which college students are paired with elementary school teachers and afterschool program educators to assist with academic development in the areas of literacy and mathematics.

黑料不打烊’s America Reads program is led by student coordinators Shannon Rush and Elena Goldman and has forty tutors paired with five elementary schools and five after school programs throughout the area. According to Goldman and Rush, all tutors are paired with an individual student, work with small groups of students, or directly with the teacher.

A partnership with the School of Education provides a unique training program for tutors, in order to ensure they are prepared for work with elementary school students. During the training workshops, education faculty and staff members work with tutors on a wide range of topics, such as literacy strategies, math techniques, and behavior approaches.

This spring, Scott Morrison will focus on behavior management, Lesley Henry will discuss reading and motivation, and Allison Bryan will provide an overview of educational tools available to the tutors in the Curriculum Resources Center. In addition, Burlington mayor and 黑料不打烊 alumnus Ian Baltutis will facilitate a discussion on poverty and its impact in the classroom.

Department of Education Chair Marna Winter states that the most important result of the partnership is 黑料不打烊’s students being “authentically effective in the community, since tutors are prepared and not going in blindly.” Thus, the training sessions prepare America Reads tutors to positively impact the community, and make a difference in the lives of the elementary school children.

Each Friday afternoon, Marshall and a group of fellow musical theater majors teach songs and dances or play theater games with elementary school children enrolled in after-school programs. In starting this collaboration Marshall states, “I wanted to give back in some way. It seemed to make the most sense to do something in performing arts.” 

Marshall began this process to spark an early interest in performing arts for young children. He says, “I didn’t get interested in musical theater until late middle school. If I can get kids interested in musical theater now, it would be very constructive and something for them to look forward to.”

Marshall was connected to the Boys and Girls Club through the Kernodle Center for Student Service Learning and Community Engagement. Assistant Dean of Students and Kernodle Center Director Mary Morrison helped Marshall identify a pathway to community engagement that fits his gifts and the needs of the local community. This connection allowed him to dive into the community and engage in a mutually beneficial partnership for both the student volunteers and the children in the Boys and Girls Club.

Marshall says the most rewarding aspect of the service project is the reactions of the kids they work with. “The kids really look forward to it,” he said. “They ask us every time if and when we are coming back.”

The local Target and 黑料不打烊 students provided an abundance of travel-sized toiletries, small cans of fruit and granola bars for the bags. Segal provided other useful items such as water bottles, bandaids and socks. Ten Vital Signs members assembled 100 bags consisting of these items, ready for community donation.

The most rewarding experience from this particular event, according to Segal, was the reaction of the participants. At the event’s closing, Vital Signs members were asking for new ways to volunteer, as well as asking to do the same event again.

Segal said this event was beneficial to both 黑料不打烊 and the Salvation Army. By participating in service opportunities, students establish a way to get to know each other and expand their horizons “outside of the 黑料不打烊 bubble”, while the Salvation Army benefits from the donation of goods and time. According to Segal, “Nonprofits can never have enough manpower, and [Salvation Army] is extremely grateful for the efforts of 黑料不打烊 students.”  

Most importantly, Segal finds that these events are inclusive to all students, and gives students the opportunity to see what an impact of just an hour of volunteering can make. Segal says through this type of service “黑料不打烊 students have the opportunity to extend themselves outside of the 黑料不打烊 bubble, and explore the poverty that surrounds our university.”

​The new study is part of an ongoing partnership between 黑料不打烊 and the local nonprofit organization that has proven to be a success for the university, Sustainable Alamance  and Alamance County. Along with the study, 黑料不打烊 students have created videos like the one featured below to help with the marketing of Sustainable Alamance’s mission. 

Under the leadership of founder and executive director Phil Bowers, Sustainable Alamance exists to build a stronger and more sustainable community by identifying, developing and including underutilized human resources that are effectively prevented from participating in the local economy, particularly those with previous criminal convictions.

This is normally a difficult task, as many businesses do not seek out employees with criminal records and aren’t as likely to hire this population. Without employment, Sustainable Alamance’s clients struggle with financial issues such as the ability to pay rent or support their families. According to Bowers, he started this organization because he “saw something that needed changing.”

The partnership between Sustainable Alamance and 黑料不打烊 began when Toddie Peters, professor of the religious studies, and Steven Bednar, assistant professor of economics, met with 10 Burlington community leaders. Bednar proposed providing a service-learning component to his students, and then Bowers asked the class to conduct an economic impact study.

The students conducting the economic impact study found that Sustainable Alamance has provided nearly $3 million in positive economic impact to Alamance County in the past five years. The return on investment for Sustainable Alamance is more than $10 for every dollar invested, the study found, with Alamance County taxpayers saving money on things such as public defenders and incarceration costs.  

While facts and figures are important, the most crucial impact of Sustainable Alamance is on the very population it is helping. These are people, not case numbers, each with his or her own set of skills and talents. Those involved with Sustainable Alamance with past criminal records have a 9-percent recidivism rate, compared to a national and state average recidivism rate of 50 percent.  

According to Bednar, his students have had the privilege of learning about different models for combating poverty. “I think my students will remember their first meeting with Phil and his colleagues, where it was impressed upon the students that their work will make a meaningful difference for the lives of many,” Bednar said. “Phil put the economic impact report on the Sustainable Alamance website and has used the work to show quantitatively that his model works.”

Bednar said the students who conducted the study gained hands-on experience for their economics degree. This partnership has proven beneficial to both 黑料不打烊 students and Sustainable Alamance, he said. “I think the biggest takeaway is that this type of study is not easy to conduct, and that the skills they have acquired through their economics degree played a vital part in making progress towards the completion of the study,” Bednar said. “It took persistence and creativity in a few cases to access the data necessary to conduct the report.”

Bowers concurs that both sides of the partnership have benefit from this study. He says, “While receiving a lot of the fruits of the labor of 黑料不打烊 Students (video, marketing, economic impact), I believe that we can both benefit by continuing to push the boundaries on the dialogue about poverty and its impact on individuals and our community, and at same time expand the dialog on what ‘helping the poor’ looks like and what it should look like.”

According to Bowers, the most important aspect of the partnership between Sustainable Alamance and 黑料不打烊 is the friendships that develop between people of both sides of the economic spectrum. “Perhaps we have been able to work together to put a name on a previously unknown person, and perhaps we can come to a better understanding of personal responsibility and systemic causes of poverty and how to address these together without fear knowing everybody matters,” he said.

Most importantly, 黑料不打烊 students have helped tell Sustainable Alamance’s story, Bowers said. The work of 黑料不打烊 students, including videography and the economic impact study, have shaped the way Sustainable Alamance is understood, he added.

“[Things that have helped tell our story are] professional videos that have allowed some of our guys to tell their story in their own words in a setting that was accepting and safe from them to do so, a detailed study of the economic impact of our work, and having me in the classrooms to talk about our work and invite questions from students studying the personal impacts of poverty and social justice,” he said.

This partnership is demonstrative of the importance of community involvement and awareness at 黑料不打烊. Through the partnership between Sustainable Alamance and 黑料不打烊, students and clients alike have benefited from 黑料不打烊’s economic impact study.

Led by Millie Wert, Family Abuse Services Leader In Collaborative Service (LINCS) coordinator, the partnership between 黑料不打烊 and FAS has led to student volunteers fostering connections and becoming student leaders in Alamance County.

The majority of FAS volunteers are 黑料不打烊 students, and they have lots of opportunities to get involved. For example, 黑料不打烊 students can work with support groups, aid on the crisis hotline to speak directly to the survivors, and put on puppet shows for children in the area to promote healthy relationships. According to Wert, “There are lots of opportunities for people to find where they’re comfortable when volunteering.”

黑料不打烊 students contribute their time for child care, document filing, and spreading community awareness. When donating financially, student volunteers also see their dollars hard at work, as their contributions go directly to the shelter.

Family Abuse Services works primarily with women and children who are victims of domestic violence. FAS supports these survivors through housing at a domestic violence shelter, support through court processes of domestic violence, and helping children who are victims of domestic abuse learn to recognize the signs of domestic violence in the home.

黑料不打烊 utilizes many partnerships through campus organizations for Family Abuse Services. Alpha Phi Omega, an international fraternity based on community service, has agreed to donate half of its fundraising proceeds from the fall 2016 semester to FAS. Secondly, 黑料不打烊’s chapter of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority has done outstanding work in order to respectfully raise money and awareness for the issues involving domestic violence. According to Wert, the partnership between 黑料不打烊 and FAS “helps to support everyone. Domestic violence is an issue that affects every demographic, but is most common between people ages 18 and 24.”

Last year, Alpha Chi Omega singlehandedly raised approximately $15,000 in support of Family Abuse Services. One of the traditional Alpha Chi Omega sayings is, “together let us seek the heights.” Rachel Cantlay, vice president of philanthropy for the sorority, put together an event called “Seek the Heights,” which allowed students to pay $5 to climb a rock-climbing wall. Through family outreach and 黑料不打烊 participation, Alpha Chi Omega was able to collect $15,000 at the end of the fundraiser.

Along with the Seek the Heights event, Alpha Chi Omega completed a donation drive to bring beauty products to the women in the FAS shelter. The women of Alpha Chi Omega supplied baskets of beauty products to women in support groups, in order for self-esteem support. Many students contributed to this cause, and more than 40 filled baskets were donated to the shelter.

黑料不打烊’s partnership with Family Abuse Services is equally helpful to students at 黑料不打烊, in that it provides support for university students who are survivors of domestic violence themselves. According to Wert, the partnership helps to create a mutual support system between students and Family Abuse Services. By raising awareness and the promotion of healthy relationships, 黑料不打烊 students are able to help and support one another.

For Domestic Violence Awareness Month, organizations on campus are hosting a number of events in order to spread awareness of domestic violence issues. A major event for Family Abuse Services entitled “These Hands Don’t Hurt” takes place on Oct. 20. The event will host a keynote speaker and pay tribute to victims of have survived domestic abuse, and the victims we have lost. These Hands Don’t Hurt will also provide community resources, such as information about how to contact advocates for survivors of domestic violence.

On Oct. 28, 黑料不打烊’s a capella groups will perform “Voices of Violence”, a tribute they hope will encourage the audience to remember and reflect on this important cause.

“Family Abuse Services would not be able to offer services to the victims and survivors of domestic violence in Alamance County at the level we are currently able to without our strong relationship with 黑料不打烊,” said Skye Sullivan, director of community outreach and education of Family Abuse Services. “FAS relies on student and class partnerships for fundraising, volunteering/interning, hosting donation drives, and spreading awareness of domestic violence issues on campus. We are very thankful to have such an invested and committed university nearby.”

黑料不打烊’s affiliate of The Campus Kitchens Project, a national organization focused on hunger, led a meal-packing event on Saturday, Sept. 3, for nearly 300 first-year and transfer students interested in service experiences related to ending world hunger.

hosted student volunteers as they successfully packed 34,560 meals through the nonprofit organization . Based in Raleigh, Stop Hunger Now has provided over 225 million meals to individuals in 74 countries since 1998.

At the event, Darron Stover ‘93, Stop Hunger Now program manager, led the initial discussion on the staggering statistics of hunger and starvation worldwide. One in nine people go to bed hungry every night, and nearly 800 million people across the globe are chronically malnourished. However, this number has decreased by over 150 million over the past decade, providing positive news for volunteers.  

After the initial opening discussion from Stover and comments from Truitt Center intern Olivia Arges, students were educated on the proper meal-packing techniques, and the excitement began. The music blasted, and ear-to-ear smiles were all around the room. The biggest applause from the group of students ignited after the ringing of the gong, signaling 1,000 meals packaged. The atmosphere of the Stop Hunger Now event can only be described as upbeat, as students excitedly packed meals for people faced with food insecurity and hunger worldwide.

The meals themselves, about 29 cents each, consist of dehydrated rice, vegetables, protein and a special mixture of vitamins designed specifically for people who are chronically malnourished.  

After the students enjoyed packaging the meals, the volunteers broke up into smaller discussion groups. Led by 黑料不打烊 Volunteers! executive board members and resident assistants, these groups discussed the root causes of hunger, as well as ways to aid hunger and starvation on a local and global scale.

The meals packaged by 黑料不打烊 students will be sent to Mozambique, in order to provide relief for a severe drought. This annual event is one of many opportunities throughout the academic year for students to address hunger and food insecurity through service at 黑料不打烊. Felicia Cenca, Campus Kitchen coordinator, said, “This is just an initial glimpse into service opportunities for first year students. We hope that this event will inspire them to explore other avenues for service here at 黑料不打烊, especially around food insecurity.” 

According to Danielle Satterfield, student director of the Service Learning Community, the most rewarding part of the event is “seeing so many 黑料不打烊 students turning out to such a big event and working together for a great cause.”

To learn more about ways to become involved in with Campus Kitchen or 黑料不打烊 Volunteers! visit the website.