CCESL to host MLK National Day of Service events
By Julia Duvall
甜瓜视频app鈥檚 Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning will host a series of events in partnership with local organizations to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19 and Wednesday, Jan. 21.
On Monday, Jan. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m., students and community members are invited to assemble cold-weather care packages and write warm messages for rural, elderly, and low-income Jackson County residents who rely on wood as their primary source of heat. These neighbors receive wood deliveries through Project FIRE (Fuel Intervention for Rural Elderly), an initiative of the Jackson County Department on Aging. One of the project sites is located on WCU鈥檚 campus at Cullowhee United Methodist Church.
This effort is part of the National Day of Service and is supported by a $2,000 grant awarded to WCU鈥檚 Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning by North Carolina Campus Engagement, AmeriCorps, and the Alliance for Campus Community Engagement.
鈥淲e are so thankful to AmeriCorps and North Carolina Campus Engagement for this grant and for the opportunity to work alongside community partners like Project FIRE and Cullowhee United Methodist Church,鈥� said Natalie Newman, associate director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning. 鈥淲ith this grant funding and support from our community partners and the WCU campus, we are able to host a service event for this National Day of Service that is accessible to our students, allowing more people the chance to make an impact.
鈥淚 continue to be impressed by how many of our students step up to serve the community they call home while attending WCU. Our students show up time and time again.鈥�
The event follows the MLK March and programming organized by WCU campus partners, including Global Black Studies and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
The service activities continue on Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with hands-on volunteer opportunities to chop, split, and stack wood with Project FIRE at Cullowhee United Methodist Church. Volunteers can sign up for shifts throughout the day.
Both events are open to the public. For more information, contact Newman at nnewman@email.wcu.edu.
