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University Celebrates Civil Rights Leader’s Legacy with Community Service Projects
Barry University celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recently with a day of service at sites in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Approximately 150 volunteers logged 500 hours contributing to projects that support food access, environmental preservation, juvenile justice, youth development, and care for military veterans.
Forty high-school youth and staff members from Gang Alternative were among the volunteers. Based in Little Haiti, Gang Alternative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting positive alternatives to youth violence and delinquency.
In addition to Gang Alternative, the community partners that hosted service projects were Doctors Charter School, EcoTech Visions, E-SToPP (Eradicating the School-to-Prison Pipeline), Farm Share, the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, La Paloma Neighborhood Association, Miami Beach Community Church, Miami VA Healthcare System, PATCH (People’s Access to Community Horticulture) of Dania Beach, Red Kangaroo, Urban GreenWorks, and Villa Maria Nursing Center.
MLK Day of Service volunteers took part in post-service reflection activities during an on-campus barbecue sponsored by the Center for Student Involvement in the Division of Student Affairs. On the Sunday after the MLK Day of Service, Campus Ministry celebrated Mass featuring civil rights music in honor of the civil rights leader.
Service for Peace was a sponsor of Barry’s MLK Day of Service. Additionally, the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) received donations from three local businesses: BJ’s (Hialeah), Bagel Bar East, and Costco Wholesale (North Miami Beach).
“Dr. King’s life is a shining example that one person can make a difference and change the course of history,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). “By volunteering in communities across the nation on the MLK Day of Service, we honor his legacy through the spirit of service.”
CNCS provided grants to Service for Peace and five other national organizations that played a leadership role in this year’s MLK Day of Service.
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Nursing Students Provide Service to the Community
Students participating in the NUR 422: Community/Public Health Nursing course provided 18 health screenings and made 15 teaching/learning presentations last semester. NUR 422 is a service-learning-designated course.
The health screenings were done at the Miami Beach Community Church.
There were 10 clinical coordinators, with 8 to 10 students in each student group. As reported by Gene Majka, one of the coordinators, the students provided a total of 247 hours of service to the community.
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Community Service for Barry’s 75th Anniversary Continues this Saturday
Community service as part of Barry’s 75th Anniversary will continue this Saturday morning, January 30. Barry volunteers will support a non-profit Christian organization named Feed My Starving Children by assembling food packages to be distributed to communities overseas.
The Saturday of Service project is coordinated by the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI). It coincides with one of the Volunteer Days organized by the
Sponsored by Bank of America, 75 Acts of Serviceis a coordinated series of community service opportunities facilitated by the CCSI with support from the Division of Institutional Advancement and External Affairs.
All Barry faculty, staff, and students are invited to participate in an act of service this academic year.
The 75 Acts of Service initiative will continue on Friday, February 12, with the College Brides Walk sponsored by Department of Sociology and Criminology in the College
The schedule for other acts of service in February is below.
For registration and additional information on the 75 Acts of Service initiative, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.
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Deadline for Community Engagement Award Nominations is this Friday
Nominations for Barry
The seven categories of awards are Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.
Coinciding with the Community Engagement Symposium, the Community Engagement Awards Luncheon will be held on March 30 on the university’s main campus in
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Faculty, Staff, and Students Invited to Thursday’s Community Engagement Fair
Faculty, staff, and students are invited to the Community Engagement Fair this Thursday, January 28, between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., in the R. Kirk Landon Student Union.
Community partners will be stationed at tables in the atrium, where they will provide information on opportunities for off-campus experiential learning such as volunteer work, service-learning, community-based research, and internships. Staff members interested in opportunities for volunteer work will find the fair informative.
For further information, contact Courtney Berrien, associate director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), at cberrien@barry.edu or 305-899-4017.
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Students Encouraged to Perform Daily Acts of Peace
Barry University is observing 40 Days of Peace from January 18 through February 26. Students are encouraged to sign the Peace Pledge and perform daily acts of peace.
Dozens of students performed their first act of peace on Barry’s MLK Day of Service. They also pledged to be models of good citizenship and to perform specific peace-promoting acts throughout the 40-day period.
Since the MLK Day of Service, students have performed some of the following acts recommended by Service for Peace: “Cease all negative words about or towards other people; “Honestly and genuinely compliment two strangers”; “Say thank you to at least two people”; and “Take a deep breath if you’re angry, and wait to speak more peacefully.”
For this week (January 25–31), the following acts of peace are among those recommended: “Perform one random act of kindness”; “Help a stranger in need”; and “Let go of a grudge.”
Also as part of 40 Days of Peace, a letter-writing campaign in appreciation of military veterans is underway. Letters will be sent to the Miami Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System, said Andres Quevedo, a program coordinator in the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).
Last year, the CCSI sent approximately 50 handwritten thank-you cards from Barry students to the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. Mary C. Phillips, chief of voluntary service, said the cards were distributed to inpatient veterans at the medical center.
“Your kindness is greatly appreciated by our staff and the patients,” Phillips wrote in a letter to Quevedo, who coordinated the project. “The Medical
The CCSI is coordinating Barry’s 40 Days of Peace observance, which includes events sponsored by the Center for Student Involvement and the Department of Campus Ministry in the Division of Student Affairs, the
For the specific times of events and related information, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696.
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Two Service-Learning Faculty Workshops on Semester’s Schedule
Two service-learning workshops for faculty are on the schedule for this semester.
The first, “Critical Reflection as Assessment in Service-Learning,” is scheduled for Monday, February 8, and the second, “Community-Based Research as Service-Learning,” on Wednesday, March 2.
Both workshops will be held from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the Center for Community Service Initiatives, Adrian 208.
Faculty members are asked to register at http://goo.gl/forms/uYaxSTXe5f For further information, contact either of the service-learning faculty fellows – Dr. Ligia Mihut, lmihut@barry.edu, or Dr. Raul Machuca, rmachuca@barry.edu – or the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).
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Mini-Grants Available for Community-Based Research
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) is offering mini-grants for community-based research (CBR). Full-time faculty who teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses may apply for a mini-grant of up to $500.
CBR is a collaborative process of critical inquiry into problems or issues faced by a community. Faculty members and students collaborate with community partners on applied research projects that address specific problems or issues and promote social change. Research questions emerge from the needs of the community. The goal of the research is to produce and disseminate information that will benefit community members or agencies serving the community. Through CBR, students learn research design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
CBR proposals may be submitted at any time this semester to CCSI Director Dr. Glenn Bowen at gbowen@barry.edu. For further information and an application form, contact Bowen via e-mail.
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CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : January 25, 2016
