CCSI Newsletter

University Recognized for Student Service

Miami-Dade County’s Office of the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners have publicly recognized Barry University for outstanding student contributions to projects of the County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department.  

Jack Kardys, director of the department, highlighted Barry students’ volunteer service in the county parks. Nearly 300 Barry students participating in the Freshman Experience Program contributed to projects at Crandon, Haulover, Greynolds, and Pelican Harbor parks in 2013.

Kardys noted that Barry students understand the importance of the University’s call to “learn, reflect, and serve.”

Six other organizations and two individuals were similarly honored at Miami-Dade County’s annual Volunteer Recognition Ceremony earlier this month.

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Collection Begins Next Monday

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Community and campus organizers are gearing up for the Sixth Annual Dorm Drive. A variety of household and educational items will be collected again this year to benefit residents of neighboring communities.

Dorm Drive will begin next Monday, April 28, and end on Sunday, May 4. The goal is to collect “gently used items” from students as they move out of the residence halls.

Students can drop off donations at various places: the Weber Game Room; Holly House Laundry Room; and the lobbies of Benicasa, Kolasa, and Dominican halls.

Dorm Drive is the brainchild of Margaret Grizzle, wife of Sociology and Criminology Department Chair, Dr. Gary Grizzle. The project is supported by that department and its student club, Ignite, as well as the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), the Department of Residence Life, Intercollegiate Athletics, and the MountTabor MissionaryBaptist Church.

“Dorm Drive not only helps community members in need but also helps protect the environment by diverting a large amount of waste from the landfills,” Mrs. Grizzle noted. “The donations go to several charities in the community.”

The Mount Tabor church identifies 20 young people who are graduating from high school and moving away to college. They receive “housing packages, which include dorm essentials,” Mrs. Grizzle explained.

Some donations will go to New Life, a transitional housing project run by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. Others will go to two homeless shelters in Liberty City and Mount Tabor’s Bread of Life Ministry to benefit “struggling community members.”

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The current Box Tops for Education Campus-wide Collection Drive is coming to an end.

For each box top – from groceries and household products – that is donated, North MiamiMiddle School will receive a 10-cent contribution toward much-needed supplies. The Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) has placed collection boxes in various locations on campus, including the CCSI office, Adrian 208.

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Student to Join Dominican Volunteers

Fresh from her upcoming graduation, Barry student Cory Stein is expected to join the Dominican Volunteers this summer. Stein is set to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Stein will serve at Sarah’s Inn in Chicago. She will focus on educating adolescents regarding healthy relationships and positive body image. 

Sarah’s Inn is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. The organization offers services designed to end relationship violence through domestic violence crisis intervention, community education, and violence prevention programs for youth.

Conference Organizers Seek Session Proposals

The organizers of the Fourth Annual Eastern Regional Campus Compact Conference are seeking workshop and poster session proposals from colleges and universities. The mission of the conference is to advance institutional and community engagement for the public good.

Scheduled for October 15-17 in Jacksonville, Fla, the conference will highlight the 50th anniversary of the Civic Rights Act. The conference theme is “Moving Us Forward: Fifty Years On: From Civil Rights to Critical Engagement,” and the deadline for proposal submission is May 1.

Further information is available from Eastern Region Campus Compact.