Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012

ILCC VISTAs KICK OFF 2012 WITH MLK DAY OF

SERVICE

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words resonate with Americans just as well today they did almost 50 years ago.

Each year on Martin Luther King Day we are reminded to come forth as socially responsible citizens and muster as much effort as we can towards helping advance the world we live in through providing service wherever necessary.

Issue #4, January 2012

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NEW YEAR KICK-OFF WITH MLK DAY OF SERVICE

TRUMAN COLLEGE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FAIR

INTERESTING ARTICLES OF THE MONTH

JANUARY VISTA SPOTLIGHT

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This year turned out no different as ILCC VISTAs from over 20 campuses answered that call fervently by putting aside their normal duties to lend a hand on Martin Luther King Day.

From organizing small service gatherings, to participating in large citywide events, our VISTAs showed great strength in their commitment to service and civic engagement by getting involved first hand in some great direct service projects. Here are some of the projects our VISTAs took part in during the MLK holiday.

Volunteers pose during the MLK Day food drive organized by VISTA Kate Eagler

Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue#4, January 4 2012

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Kate Eagler, ILCC VISTA at Millikin University, partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters to organize the “Restock the Pantries,” food drive.

Eagler and her volunteers made ‘Dream Bags’ that they placed in the front of the store so that customers could easily keep track of their donations then drop the bags off after finishing their normal shopping.

“It was powerful to witness the generosity of the community,” said Eagler. “I’ve heard the Decatur community is a generous one and I was able to see that in action.” And with 29 volunteers logging 84 hours and collecting over food 1,800 items,

it’s clear Eagler’s project not only brought out the generosity in the community, but also made a truly positive impact.

Other ILCC VISTAs also helped feed the less fortunate on MLK Day.

Andrew Miller, ILCC VISTA at Loyola University, took a dozen students to the St. Thomas Canterbury Soup Kitchen where the group ended up feeding about 250 hungry people in need. “The experience of serving these people who are generally ignored by society is humbling but gratifying,” said Miller.

MLK DAY of Service

Dream Bag station set up in the middle of a participating store

Truman College hosted representatives from over 20 recognized non-profit and community organizations throughout Chicago as part of its 2012 Civic Engagement Fair on Tuesday January 31st.

The event hosted by Truman College VISTA Benita Rice and the Director of the Truman College Social Science department, Joshua Jones, aimed to introduce students to a multitude of service-oriented organizations to provide students with clear references for fulfilling service learning requirements and/or finding useful internships.

The fair also featured a special appearance from Alderman of the 46th Ward, James Cappleman.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FAIR AT TRUMAN COLLEGE

ILCC VISTA Benita Rice stands with Chicago Alderman of the 46th Ward James Cappleman

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A volunteer working to get donations for the food drive

Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012

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MLK DAY 2012 (continued) A thought echoed by Carrie Timmermans, ILCC VISTA at Trinity University, who went with over 20 students to serve almost 1,500 meals at the Pacific Garden Mission. “It was very encouraging to see how much just our presence meant to the residents of PGM,” said Timmermans of her service.

Soukprida Phetmisy, ILCC VISTA at Columbia College, led two service projects in honor of MLK Day. The first, “Rhythm for a Reason” partnered with the pediatric cancer foundation, Bear Necessities to give children quality time to create art in the form of accordion books, paintings of instruments, and other projects that they could keep. “It's always inspiring to share art and see the work that you love doing reflected on the faces and through the actions of those you directly encounter…it provides evidence that this kind of work makes a resounding impact, especially with young people,” said Phetmitsy.

Her second MLK event, “Moving to Change,” invited students to gather in reflection of the ideas of civic engagement, the goals of service learning and the steps they could start to take toward making impactful change in their own communities.

The group then used their reflections as inspiration for letters that they wrote and sent to Columbia College student veterans on campus.

ILCC VISTAs Beka Flanagan, Ashleigh Hasselbach and Nikita Stange all found unique projects to link up with for MLK Day.

Flanagan and Hasselbach, VISTAs at Louis and St. Francis Universities respectively, partnered with Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach to sort through discarded medical supplies that were to be redistributed to other hospitals in need while Stange found herself at the Calumet Township Community Center where she facilitated some senior programming and helped out in the kitchen as well.

ILCC VISTAs Lizzy Caudill and Melissa Pognon, both at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, were more than ready to heed Dr. King’s call to service on MLK Day.

Caudill took to the task of overseeing the “Campus Wide Day of Service,” which sent over 150 students out into the Evanston and Chicago areas to participate in direct service.

Meanwhile, Pognon busied herself hosting the “Civically Engaged Alumni Roundtable” where over 20 distinguished NU alumni traveled from far and wide to hold

VISTAs Beka Flanagan and Ashleigh Hasselbach pause for a photo during their

Students checking in for the Campus Wide Day of Service

VISTA Melissa Pognon takes a moment to smile for the camera before her event

Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue#4, January 4 2012

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MLK DAY OF SERVICE (Continued)

Resource Links for January

1) Public Transit and School Attendance http://www.wbez.org/story/chicago-some-find-public-transit-fares-

Story by WBEZ about the link between public transit fares and school attendance. A local school is reporting that due to high costs of train passes that the demand for student-reduced fare cards are getting higher.

3) Congrats to ILCC VISTA Ruthi Brooks for getting some ink! http://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/project-36964-reading-aims.html

Illinois College’s Sonya Project is an after-school program that provides support for elementary school students who need help with reading.

2) The New Poverty Line http://www.npr.org/2011/12/15/143770049/census-1-in-2-americans-are-poor-or-low-income

About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty.

Have an interesting or insightful link to share? Feel free to send an email to jhurley6@depaul.edu or camwoods007@gmail.com so it can be included in the next newsletter!

forums with current Northwestern students that emphasized the importance of staying civically engaged regardless of their professional goals.

Last but certainly not least, ILCC VISTAs, Alex Baird, Helen Gerety, Jaime Ricks, Clare Kessler and VISTA leader Jim Hurley all rose to the challenge of providing service with fellow civic servers City Year Chicago.

Together with none other than Chicago’s own Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the team participated in City Year’s “Day On” event, which brought together over 600 volunteers to paint 50 classrooms, 91 murals, 2 hallways and much more at community centers located in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.

We greatly appreciate all of our ILCC VISTAs along with any good citizen who was able to spare some time on MLK Day for providing service to the community at large. To all of our VISTAs, thank you for making the 2012 MLK Day of Service a successful one!

Other ILCC VISTA 2012 MLK Day projects include:

Brittany Elder (University of Springfield)-Community outreach with American Red Cross Illinois Capital Area Chapter

Guarav Singh Chicago School of Professional Psychology)- Assisted at Garfield Community Service Center

Benita Rice (Truman College)- Hosted letter writing campaign at Hull House

Christina Bennett (Millikin University)- Served meals at Daily Bread Soup Kitchen

VISTAs Clare Kessler and Helen Gerety catch up with VISTA Leader Jim Hurley at City Year’s “Day On” event

Volunteer Count Update

Individuals who served as community volunteers

Disadvantaged Youth/Children served

Students participating in P-16 education programs

2,590

3,268

1,049

58,577

Total Hours

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During his keynote address, Cappleman stressed the necessity for students to be fully engaged in their service and volunteering efforts and provided three key points for students searching for the right service opportunities:

“Follow your passion,” “Never let fear stand in your way” and “Be sure to connect with other people while serving.”

Cappleman also called students in attendance to find opportunities they will consider meaningful in the long term in order to make for a more impactful experience overall.

One such volunteer in attendance was well aware of the personal impact involved with finding a great service opportunity. Neerja Joshi, a member of the Chicago Health Corps (CHC), which is an extension of the National Health Corps AmeriCorps program, was at the fair to represent the American Cancer Society.

A recent graduate with her eyes on attending medical school, Joshi admitted that she’s always had an interest in “resolving issues with health disparities,” and described her placement with the ACS as a “perfect fit.” She said she loves working with her organization because she can directly “help do things that patients can’t do on their own,” an ideal outlook for a future health care professional.

Other organizations represented at the Truman Civic Engagement fair included: Albany Park Community Center, Asian Health Services, Boys & Girls Club of Chicago, Chicago Hopes, Cornerstone Community Center, Howard Brown, Life Directions, Playworks, Radio Arte and many more. For additional information on any of the organizations present at the fair or for information on upcoming service-related events at Truman College, send an email to ILCC VISTA Benita Rice at benita.rice@gmail.com.

Truman Civic Engagement Fair

Eager students signing into the event

ILCC VISTA Benita Rice poses with Chicago Health Corps VISTA Neerja Joshi

Truman Students crowd the tables of the many community organizations at the fair

Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012

Illinois Campus Compact

This edition’s VISTA Spotlight shines brightly on VISTA Elizabeth “Lizzy” Caudill at Northwestern University. Caudill was instrumental in planning Northwestern’s “Campus Wide Day of Service,” which sent out more than 150 student volunteers to perform direct service at a multitude of sites.

But all community organizing skills aside, this is a VISTA who can entertain a crowd. When the keynote speaker for the her event failed to show due to issues with travel, Caudill stepped up addressed the 150 plus crowd herself, giving a wonderful impromptu speech on the importance of direct service and volunteerism.

Great job Lizzy! Keep up the good work!

JANUARY VISTA SPOTLIGHT

Elizabeth Caudill ILCC VISTA Northwestern University

55 E. Jackson Blvd 8th Floor Suite 800 Chicago, IL 60604