Lindenman has a passion for service and community engagement. She spent five years of her career teaching high school in low-income communities, beginning with Teach For America. At 黑料不打烊, Lindenman encourages and supports her students to learn about the ways they can engage with their community, and how to put words into action.

In the spring 2022 semester, Lindenman incorporated the funding from the CPI grant into her class, Writing Grants. The course essentially mimics the actual process of grant writing and students are allowed to write a mock grant, referred to as the 鈥淧hoenix Foundation Grant.鈥�

They were given the opportunity to write grant proposals to support the Mayco Bigelow Center, the African American Cultural Arts Center or the City Gate Dream Center, for programs and projects proposed by the community partners. This semester-long project allows students the opportunity to work with local partners in the Burlington community to mirror how the grant writing process works.

Lindenman explained that her most meaningful projects with students are those in which students are building relationships with community members and partners.

“The project is a very interesting opportunity for students to learn how an actual grant process works, because of the specificity and negotiation of the project,” Lindenman said.

The CPI grant is a program facilitated by the Kernodle Center for Civic Life that provides 黑料不打烊 faculty members funding for service projects. The faculty members who are awarded this grant utilize these funds and their resources for a dynamic project within the community.

Through 黑料不打烊 Volunteers! this past year, Whyte has been a coordinator with Leaders in Collaborative Service (LINCS) at ,听a non-profit organization located in East Burlington.

鈥淲e work with everyone. Regardless of their charge or background, we will help them utilize their resources to create a sustainable future,鈥� Whyte said.

Sustainable Alamance works with clients who were previously incarcerated and are in need of economic and other support as they resume their lives outside of the prison system.聽

Whyte emphasizes the importance of sustainable service and how it is essential to 鈥渂reak the cycle鈥� of current social issues.聽Through her work, Whyte learned that their clients have difficulty being self-sufficient because of lack of employment opportunities, debt from prison, addiction and homelessness.

Sustainable Alamance supports its clients by offering employment opportunities, so that they may be able to pay their debt and work towards finding stability.

Being the LINCS coordinator for Sustainable Alamance, she helps clients utilize available resources to get on their feet. As clients seek employment opportunities, Sustainable Alamance works with local business partners within the community to reserve a position for one of their clients. These efforts help encourage self-sufficiency.

Through all of her impactful work with 黑料不打烊 Volunteers and Sustainable Alamance, Whyte is grateful for all of the opportunities that have allowed her to meet, connect and support those in her community.

鈥淰olunteer work is not something you should just check off a box. The most impactful parts of volunteer work are building connections with those you are helping,” she said. “Through my experiences, I learned that it is so important to think about how your efforts are affecting the community in the long-term. Always question whether your efforts are sustainable because sustainability encourages self-sufficiency and empowerment amongst the community.鈥�

For more information on how to get involved in the community through 黑料不打烊 Volunteers!, visit .

Food is resourced through generous support from 黑料不打烊 Dining, which involves weekly food donations and the use of the Lakeside Dining Hall kitchen. Through a collaboration with the Center for Environmental Studies, students also harvest produce from 黑料不打烊’s Loy Farm to use in meal preparation.

This entire process is all done with the help and collaboration of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 faculty and student volunteers. Every step of the way, faculty and students are finding ways to improve food sustainability, as well as combat food insecurity.

With access to a kitchen and its proper tools, volunteers from all levels of experience work together to create nutritious meals for the community. Since Campus Kitchen has a partnership with the Allied Churches of Alamance, students can also volunteer their time by delivering the prepared foods to the shelter. This service-learning opportunity provides student volunteers with access to kitchens, delivery transportation and other resources that are needed to complete the shifts.

Not only does Campus Kitchen allow students to become more involved in their community, but it’s also a collaborative experience that encourages students to work together for the betterment of their community.

鈥淲ith Campus聽Kitchen, we can clearly see the impact we are making. Whether it is our sustainability efforts or partnering with the churches, we are making a difference every step of the way,鈥� said Leila Jackson ’22, director of Campus Kitchen and active participant in the program for nearly two years.

Students of all interests participate in Campus Kitchen because of the various opportunities it offers. Madison Johnson 鈥�24 is not only a passionate student participant of Campus Kitchen, but she works as the farm shift coordinator at Loy Farms as well.

鈥淲e had the creator and supervisor of Allied Churches come and speak at an all 黑料不打烊 Volunteers! forum and it was so inspiring to hear him speak. It really gave meaning to what we do and just helped ignite that passion we all have to help others,鈥� Johnson said.

Not only is Campus Kitchen a fun and collaborative opportunity that benefits the community, but it also serves as an opportunity for students to receive their service Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR) credit. In order to graduate, 黑料不打烊 students must complete two ELR credits, and one of those credits may be completed through a service-learning experience. The university encourages students to either take academic service-learning courses or participate in a service-learning experience, approved by the Kernodle Center.

Campus Kitchen is indeed a service-learning experience that is pre-approved by the Kernodle Center, so students can receive an ELR credit if they participate for a minimum of 40 hours over 15 days. If you are interested in receiving an ELR credit through Campus Kitchen or any other pre-approved service-learning experience, you must contact a Kernodle Center staff member for assistance. From there, a staff member will provide you with more details, including an orientation.

If you are interested in learning more about the service ELR, click here. If you are interested in becoming a leader with Campus Kitchen, keep an eye on announcements after spring break when 黑料不打烊 Volunteers! begins its leadership recruitment. You can also come by the Kernodle Center office which is located in Moseley 232 or call 336-278-7250 for more information.

The Kernodle Center organizes several events throughout the academic year for students to address “the common good” through community-based engaged and experiential student learning opportunities.聽One of those opportunities is Alternative Break experiences, which will provide 黑料不打烊 students with the opportunity to serve communities around the state and country during Spring Break this year.聽Alternative Breaks are immersive service experiences designed to introduce students to new communities while working to address pressing domestic and global social issues.

For an example of how impactful an Alternative Break opportunity can be, look no further than the student experiences of those who participated last Fall Break.

On Oct. 14, 2021, seven 黑料不打烊 students and two faculty members traveled to Winston-Salem to combat food insecurity. Food insecurity has been exacerbated due to the pandemic and is especially prevalent in northwestern North Carolina as one in six people in this region are classified as food insecure.

While in Winston-Salem, students partnered with , a food bank that serves 18 communities in North Carolina – including Burlington. For a day, students worked together to organize and sort through packaged food that was eventually served to food-insecure communities. This Alternative Break trip allowed for students to fight this issue which impacts people right outside of their campus. This experience not only raised awareness about food insecurity but also emphasized the importance of giving back to the community.

Nicole McGinty ’23 was one of the seven students that took part in this service-learning trip. She said that the experience highlighted the importance of serving and empowering others.

鈥淪ustainable service is when you provide assistance to others that eventually empowers them to be self-sufficient,鈥� McGinty said.

Tiffany Huang ’22 added that this trip reminded her of how important it is for students to expand their worldview and be conscious of their “positionality.”

鈥淭here is so much we can be doing right outside of our campus, big or small. It all makes a difference,鈥� Huang said.

The memorable trip also created the opportunity for students to meet and connect, inspiring some to continue participating in service-learning opportunities and to look into bigger opportunities for service. 鈥淎fter this trip, I realized that I want to be a trip leader. So, I actually applied to be a leader for the spring alternative break to Asheville,鈥� Huang said.

This service-learning trip is one of the many opportunities that 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Kernodle Center offers. There are many local trips and opportunities throughout the year that students are encouraged to participate in.

For Spring Break 2022, 黑料不打烊 students will have an opportunity to have a meaningful break with several opportunities:

• Housing and Homelessness (Washington, D.C.): The Kernodle Center will partner with multiple agencies such as and to explore the issues of housing and homelessness in the nation’s capital.
• Poverty and Educational Disparities (Nashville, Tennessee): Partnering with local agencies, the and , students will have the opportunity to explore poverty and educational disparities facing the Nashville area.
• Food Security (Asheville, North Carolina): 黑料不打烊 students will work with and to explore issues surrounding food security in western North Carolina.
• Interfaith with the Lakota (Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota): Students will work with , a grassroots community effort serving the Lakota Oglala tribe in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Volunteers will stay on the Pine Ridge reservation working on infrastructure projects, as well as spending time with community members and guest speakers. Allison Pelyhes, the multifaith coordinator in the Truitt Center, can be contacted at apelyhes@elon.edu for more information.

黑料不打烊 Alternative Breaks is a proud member of , a national organization supporting alternative break programs at campuses across the country. The Kernodle Center integrates Break Away’s 8 Components of a Quality Alternative Break into the program model.

To apply for the upcoming Spring Alternative Break opportunities, students can visit . If you have any questions, email Autumn Cox, assistant director for the Kernodle Center, at acox23@elon.edu or stop by the Kernodle Center in Moseley Center 232.