From Every Corner of Campus, the Spirit of Giving Prevails

Margaret Barksdale might not be who most people picture when they think of a construction worker but that didn’t stop the grandmother and East Stroudsburg University graduate student from climbing up on a roof and nailing shingles during storm relief work in North Carolina last winter.

Barksdale loved the volunteer effort so much that she’ll be heading back with fellow ESU students, Gene D. White, Ph.D., professor and chair of physical education, and members of the East Stroudsburg United Methodist Church this winter break.

She spoke glowingly of the camaraderie she found with the volunteers who completed roofing, plumbing and other improvement projects to storm ravaged homes in New Bern, N.C. “I kind of adopted all of them and they adopted me,” she said.

It was especially heartening to meet the owners of the houses who were so grateful for the students’ efforts. She recalls one home where they were fixing the plumbing when the owner showed up.

“She was just hugging us and it made me cry,” Barksdale said.

The storm relief contingent is just one of the scores of volunteer efforts that ESU students, faculty and staff have organized this holiday season. The other projects range from winter coat, toy and food drives to holiday parties for low-income children to bell ringing for the Salvation Army, fundraisers for needy families and even helping Santa Claus answer children’s letters.

The spirit of giving permeates every corner of the campus, including residence halls, athletics, student government, the College of Education, ESU’s music groups and fraternities and sororities.

Students from the Student Athlete Advisory Committee held a holiday party for children at the Monroe County Head Start program in East Stroudsburg on December, 4. The ESU students spent the morning crafting and playing games with the youngsters.
“The best part is that the Head Start students get so excited,” said Nancy Jo Greenawalt, D.Ed., academic coordinator for intercollegiate athletics. “Oftentimes they come dressed in their nicest outfits.”

ESU Head Football Coach Dennis Douds returned from a recruiting trip in time to stand in for Santa at the party.

“One of the things you have to be aware of when you play Santa is which toys are popular among children,” said Coach Douds. “That way you can say, ‘I think I saw an elf in one of the workshops working on that,’” Douds said.

The experience is great for the student-athletes because they see the value of community involvement and are more likely to engage in giving back after college.

“We do it so that students can learn to go out and make their communities a better place,” Douds added.

The athletic department will also participate in the annual Holiday Christmas Party for Charities on December 20 at Lehigh Valley International Airport. Spectators are admitted free to seven ESU basketball games and one wrestling match when they bring toys, board games or stuffed animals for children to receive as gifts at the party.

Several campus groups, including the football team and Sigma Pi Epsilon Delta, the Special Education and Rehabilitation Honor Society, volunteer as bell ringers for the local Salvation Army. Other members of the campus community participated in the organization’s first-ever Red Kettle Kick-Off Breakfast to raise funds for those in need.

Many of the volunteer efforts aid people right in ESU’s backyard, including the clothing collection for students at J.M. Hill Elementary School. Residence Life and Housing partners with J.M. Hill to match donors with children in need of winter coats and boots for ESU’s annual Shoes That Fit program. The students from the residence halls and various faculty and staff from campus will contribute about 175 clothing items to 98 elementary students this year, according to Bob Moses, director of residence life and housing.

Deborah Corson, school nurse at J.M. Hill and an ESU alumna, said the donations are a huge help to low-income children and their families. “The generosity is amazing,” she said. “They don’t just get them one thing — they send big packages.”

ESU’s College of Education works with other regional schools, including Lincoln Elementary and Stroudsburg Intermediate Elementary, on food drives.

Meanwhile, the State Employees Combined Appeal, the Commonwealth’s annual charitable giving campaign for employees, along with the Office of Residence Life and Housing, raised more than $2,500 in contributions for the United Way this fall.

For the last decade, students in Hawthorn Suites have taken turns writing back to children who have sent letters to Santa Claus through the East Stroudsburg Post Office.

“The students love reading these Santa letters because it reminds them of their own childhood,” said Kelly Weaber, resident director of Hawthorn Suites. “I think it kind of takes them back to the simple things in life.”

Katie Casillas, a senior majoring in elementary education, said she really enjoys reading and answering the children’s letters as a stress reliever from studying for exams. “It was fun to see what they would ask,” Casillas said.

And ESU’s Student Senate was able to give some of those children what they asked for in their letters to Santa.

For 15 years, the Student Senate has conducted a Teddy Bear Drive, collecting stuffed animals and toys for local children in need. The Senate held a holiday party on December 6 for over 100 guests featuring crafts, games and pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The efforts of student life on campus only starts with Student Senate. The Inter-Fraternity Council and Panhellenic Council collect for Toys for Tots for Monroe County. Tau Sigma, the National Honor Society for Transfer Students, collected eight bags of canned food and about 25 bags of clothes for the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network, which aids low-income families. Sigma Pi Epsilon Delta, the honorary fraternity for students in the special education field, conducted a fundraiser for a local family desperately in need. Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority and Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity also aided struggling families in East Stroudsburg. Tri-Sigma sorority ran a Thanksgiving food drive.

Other campus efforts benefit those in need around the world.

ESU Christian Fellowship and academic honors fraternity Kappa Delta Pi took part in Operation Christmas Child, an international effort that delivers school supplies, toys and other items to children in developing nations. This year, the Mattioli Recreation Center is also collecting small boxes of holiday items for Operation Christmas Child. Participants can pick up a list of most-needed items at the center, then fill a small box and drop it off at the center for delivery.

Sorority Alpha Omicron Pi runs Sisters for Soldiers, which collects items to send to U.S. soldiers overseas.

Closer to home, Alyson Patascher, ESU coordinator for health education and alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention, has been organizing collections at the Career Development Center and Health Services Center for essential items for Women’s Resources of Monroe County.

Patascher said the donations come at a key time.

The holidays are also a key time to celebrate musical talents.

ESU’s Community Orchestra took part in a benefit concert sponsored by Project One Step and the Pocono Alliance that divides the proceeds among such nonprofits as Valor Clinic, which helps veterans, and Christian Awareness Ministries Ecumenical Food Pantry. The university’s Gospel Choir ran a coat drive for the Salvation Army during its fall concert.

Good Will Industries will receive several hundred T-shirts from ESU this month, thanks to a fall orientation project that encouraged freshmen and transfer students to contribute T-shirts from their old high schools or colleges.

In exchange, the students received a new “Release the Warrior in ESyou” T-shirt, according to ESU senior Tyler Dillon, student staff coordinator for orientation.

People aren’t the only beneficiaries of ESU giving. The office of President Marcia G. Welsh is collecting pet food, dog treats, office supplies, sheets and towels for the Animal Welfare Society of Monroe, a no-kill shelter known as AWSOM.

The ESU community hopes to have an impact on families this holiday season.

Barksdale, said she sees such volunteer efforts as a way of inculcating lessons of gratitude, empathy and open-mindedness.

“Most kids at that age – late teens and early 20s – when they see someone who is less fortunate, it kind of grounds them and makes them appreciate what they have,” Barksdale said.

Search

Recent Posts