THE DIFFERENCE
Apr 2012The Center for Service & Learning Newsletter
Inside this Issue:
Project Fuzzy 1 Lose the Shoes 3
SARD 4
Empty Bowls 5 Grant-Writing
Workshop 7
Senior Send-off 8
Upcoming Events and Announcements
10
Service Quote
of the Block:
Nobody made a
greater mistake
than he who did
nothing because
he could do only a
little.
–Edmund Burke
Project Fuzzy members show off their knitting and crocheting projects
Project Fuzzy
by Laurel Hecker ‘13 The hospital can be a cold, lonely place, but a small group of CC students is working to make it a little warmer for kids. Project Fuzzy is a philanthropy group that knits and crochets hats and blankets and donates them to chil- dren and organizations in need.
Project Fuzzy was founded by Marley Hamrick ’12 during her junior year at Niwot High School. For Ham- rick, starting the group was a personal cause.
“I was born with a cleft lip, and I had lots of surgeries when I was lit- tle,” she explained, “so I wanted to give back.”
She combined her posi- tive memories of receiv-
ing small gifts during surgeries and her skill with a crochet hook to form Project Fuzzy.
Since its initial year, the group has been donat- ing to Children’s Hospi- tal in Aurora, Colorado, primarily to the oncol- ogy department.
Hamrick brought Project Fuzzy with her when she came to CC,
Continued on page 2
Issue 6
and combined with existing group Cozy Crew to continue her efforts from high school.
The group expanded its dona- tions to include children’s hos- pitals in Denver and Colorado Springs, and benefited from local publicity. Following an article about it in the Colorado Springs Gazette, Project Fuzzy received many donations of yarn and complete items from the community. The group, which ran for several years without a budget, relies on donations such as these; Ham- rick said the group has “only bought yarn two or three times” in its lifetime.
Despite being a young group with limited funds, Project Fuzzy has consistently donated between 100 and 200 hats and about five blankets each year. The total donations since Hamrick started the group amount to around 800 hats.
This year has been a
“transition stage” for Project Fuzzy, according to Hamrick and fellow co-chair Chelsea Brown ’14. As a busy senior, Hamrick had to put Project Fuzzy on a brief hiatus, but the group’s activity has picked up again recently with the help of new co-chairs Brown and Achini Wijesinghe ’13. Brown explained, “I started going last year a few times and wanted to get involved again this year.”
When she found out that Hamrick needed someone to help run the group, she jumped at the opportunity: “It’s the
perfect group [for me], and it’s a really great cause.”
In addition to new leadership, Project Fuzzy has some new beneficiaries as well.
This year, the group’s efforts have begun to extend interna- tionally; it will donate hats and blankets to a cancer hospital in Sri Lanka. It also plans to work with the organization Peruvian Hearts (also founded by a current CC student, Ana Dodson ’14) to donate items to children in Peru. Going for- ward, Brown wants to “update the [group’s] website and reach out nation-wide” for donations, continuing to grow.
While Project Fuzzy’s mission has expanded, the leaders stressed that the group
will remain true to its roots.
Brown stated, “It’ll be really nice to continue to donate to Denver and Colorado Springs,”
and Hamrick emphasized that
“our goal is to affect our local communities, wherever they might be.” Project Fuzzy do- nates directly to communities that its members are connected to: their current home state, Wijesinghe’s home country of Sri Lanka, and the Peruvian communities that Dodson works with.
As the group comes out of hiatus, it has started having regular meetings once again. “We are trying to get a solid group…right now we have about seven members,”
said Hamrick. Other mem-
Mari Gades ‘13 crochets during a Project Fuzzy meeting Continued from page 1
bers are less regular, but some take yarn to work on projects on their own. At their meet- ings, Project Fuzzy members get together to develop their knitting and crocheting skills and work on hats for donation.
“We teach new people to knit and crochet,” said Hamrick,
“we hang out and have fun and sometimes even watch a movie while working on stuff.” In tandem with its philanthropic purpose, Project Fuzzy also provides learning and teaching opportunities for its members.
During meetings, students of- ten trade knitting and crochet- ing tips. Brown said, “I have a specific skill set, and I want to know what [others] know how to do. I like being creative for
the people you’re donating to.” Two of Project Fuzzy’s co-chairs, Chelsea Brown and Marley Hamrick
Going Barefoot
by Laurel Hecker ‘13
Baseball may be Amer- ica’s pastime, but the sport of note in many other countries is soccer. Kids around the world love and play the sport, even without organized leagues or regulation soccer balls.
Soccer’s universal popularity is the inspiration behind the Lose the Shoes barefoot soccer tournament, as well as its parent organization, Grassroot Soccer (GRS). GRS uses the “universal language”
of soccer as a tool to spread awareness and education about a global problem: HIV/AIDS.
The organization holds camps for children in Africa and South America, in which par- ticipants learn not only soccer skills, but also important les- sons for HIV prevention.
Colorado College’s own Lose the Shoes tournament is one of many similar events at colleges and clubs across the country. The annual event, organized by students Margo Davis ’13 and Marissa Gra- doz ’13, raises money for the international GRS organiza- tion. Through local business sponsorships and participant sign-ups, each five-member team that plays will send two
To get involved with Project Fuzzy, email chelsea.brown@
coloradocollege.edu or attend a meeting, Sundays from 5 to 7pm in the Asian House Lounge.
children to a Grassroot Soccer Skillz Camp. “It’s just a full day of kick around soccer for a great cause,” says Davis. That cause, she adds, “is addressing HIV/
AIDS in an innovative way that can truly impact a child’s life.”
continued on page 4
Rather than traditional means of education, GRS camps speak to kids through something they love. They use not only the popularity of soccer itself, Davis explains, but also “the influence of lo- cal soccer players to educate kids.” GRS collaborates with professional soccer players, called Ambassadors, who use their fame to spread knowledge about HIV. Current Ambas- sadors include French soc- cer stars Bacary Sagna and Robert Pirès. GRS also works closely with the Bantu Rovers Football Club, a team based in Zimbabwe that was specifically founded with a social mission and “a desire to give back to their communities through the world’s game.”
Using soccer as a tool in
the fight against HIV/AIDS is innovative and effective, and the organizers of Lose the Shoes have high hopes for CC’s participation. Davis says, “we are hoping for and expecting a much better turn out this year.” With one year under their belts, they hope to build on the six teams of last year’s inaugural tournament as awareness of the event spreads.
Davis and Gradoz spend spring semester plan- ning the event, finding the location, the equipment, and the volunteers who help run the show. They also advertise the tournament and seek out sponsorships from local busi- nesses to help cover costs and increase fundraising. This year’s local sponsors include GlowGolf Mini-Golf & Laser
Tag, Noodles & Company Res- taurant, and Einstein Brothers’
Bagels.
On the day of the event, Davis explains, “Marissa and I get there early to set up fields, tables with info on Grassroot Soccer, food, water, and the sound system.” Once the teams arrive, the fun really begins.
“The tournament is a good bal- ance of competitive and laid back,” Davis says. And it’s all for a great cause.
This year’s Lose the Shoes tournament will take place on Saturday, April 14 on Yampa (Autrey) Field. Sign-ups are hap- pening throughout Block 7 dur- ing lunchtime in Worner Center and are open to students, faculty, and staff. The cost to participate is $10. You can also sign up on- line at www.grassrootsoccer.org/
tournament-calendar
Recognizing Service
By Greg Collette ‘12
Eighth block is soon ap- proaching, and that, of course, means that the Center will hold its annual Service Award Recognition Dessert (SARD).
Throughout the year, college and community members dedicate themselves to mak- ing Colorado Springs a better place for all, and while it would be impossible to thank them enough for their hard work, SARD is the Center and com- munity’s way of expressing their appreciation.
The event has been a
CC staple for more than two decades, beginning as a single award presented at Honors Convocation and becoming an hour-long celebration of service. The first award, which often closes each SARD, was endowed to the college by the Class of 1981 during their ten- year reunion. The endowment, which was the entire balance of the 1981 class account, pro- vides a monetary component to the award and initially also helped fund the event.
The first SARD was not until a few years later, as the Class of 1981’s award
predates the Center for Service and Learning itself, which Professor Tom Cronin, trustee Jerry McHugh, and Bill Hybl from the El Pomar Founda- tion helped create the following year.
It was soon apparent that one award was not enough to recognize the amount of service occurring on campus, and others soon followed, including the Anabel and Jerry McHugh Director’s Award.
The award, which recognizes the “overall effort of a student to promote an ethic of service
continued on page 6 continued from page 3
Bemis Hall and many handmade bowls were filled to the brim on March 6 for Empty Bowls, the Community Kitchen’s annual fundraiser. The event is always popular, and elicits participation from many people. This year
about 270 patrons lined up to eat and help the Kitchen by purchasing tickets. Some other members of the CC community got out their recipe books and contributed thirty different soups, while pottery students and ceramics instructor Greg Marshall made and donated 350 bowls. Several student groups, including women’s a cappella group
Ellement, serenaded attendees as they ate. The successful event raised an estimated $2700, which the Kitchen puts towards buying staple food items like pasta, rice, and meat.
Filling Empty Bowls
Patrons fill their bowls with soup Tables of students, faculty, and community members in Bemis
Choosing handmade bowls
Students eating and filling up on soup
A cappella group Ellement performs The soup selection Bowls and food to fill them with
have also undergone many changes: a reflection of the nature of the event. SARD is not about providing recipients an end of the year goal but to recognize those who self- lessly serve others. While there are categories, each award’s presentation highlights the contributions of the recipients, which are as unique as they are. Often, individual awards are created to recognize a recipient whose service goes above and beyond what anyone could have imagined.
The selection of recipi- ents is a semester long pro- cess. Beginning in 5th block, students, faculty and staff nominate others whose service exemplifies the goals of the Center. In April, a selection committee of non-CSL cam- pus and community members reads through the nominations during a two-hour lunch and chooses the winners.
Center staff provide background information on nominees if needed, but do not and to promote the Center for
Service & Learning” also hon- ors the McHugh family, which has been one of the Center’s biggest supporters during its 20 year history. Despite living in Denver, Jerry and Anabel travel to Colorado Springs every year to attend the event.
Last year was just not the same when they were not able to make it due to dangerous high winds along the I-25 cor- ridor.
Since its inception, the ceremony has been a fluid event. Initially it was a full dinner with entertainment, which many CSL groups pro- vided. One year, students from Doherty High School, just a few miles north of campus, gave a step-show during the dinner. As costs rose over the years, the Center began to find creative and fun ways to continue the dinner, includ- ing family-style meals, which complemented well the com- munal air of the event.
Eventually dinners were too much, and a deci- sion was made to continue the event as a reception with a de- licious array of desserts, thus retaining its well-recognized acronym. This format proved to work perfectly, shifting more focus on to the recipients and shortening the running time, an invaluable change both for those coming from a long day of work and those trying to juggle the one thousand and one commitments of the block plan.
The awards themselves
take part in the actual selec- tion, which can lead to exciting discoveries. Every year, there are recipients whom have never worked with the Center, and for Center staff, it is one of the most compelling aspects of the event.
This year’s SARD will also undergo a few changes, as well. As always it will have a fun theme; this year’s reflects all the “stellar” service of the recipients. While the desserts have proved popular since the transition from dinner to reception, this year will feature more appetizers in an attempt to balance the unavoidable sugar overload of the amaz- ing treats Bon Appétit creates.
Unlike years past, CSL student staff will present the awards to acknowledge that most of the nominations come from peers recognizing other peers’ dedica- tion to service.
The event will be held this year on April 26 at 5:00 p.m. in McHugh Commons.
Tonita López presents at the 2011 Service Award and Recognition Dessert
Grant-Writing Workshop
by Laurel Hecker ‘13 During fifth block break, the Center for Service and Learning offered a two- day grant writing workshop for interested students. The free workshop ran from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. on February 16 and 17. Instructor Brenna Gomez taught students how to write proposals for funding, a skill that is particularly useful in the non-profit sector. Gomez graduated from Colorado Col- lege in 2009 and now works for the Women’s Resource Agency in Colorado Springs, where she frequently writes grants.
Senior and newly- trained grant writer Erica Dubey found the workshop and Gomez’s instruction to be ex- tremely educational. “I learned how to write a detailed, persua- sive grant from start to finish,”
she said, a skill that she thinks will be beneficial at her post- graduation job with a public interest research group.
Gomez structured the workshop with alternating lectures and hands-on practice.
After listening to her explana- tion, students implemented those theories on their own by writing individual parts of a grant. Section by section, workshop participants wrote a complete grant by the end of the two days.
The students worked in groups while writing their
grants, making the workshop collaborative as well. Their sam- ple grants tied the workshop di- rectly to CC; the examples came from actual needs of student organizations like EnAct. While they wrote together during the workshop, each participant received a workbook and re- source guide to take home with them. Based on the experience and resources, Dubey said she would “have no qualms about writing a grant by myself in the future.”
Participants learned not only the structure and prac- ticalities of a grant proposal, but the nuances as well. Dubey recalled that “the most impor- tant factor in the grant writing process is knowing your orga- nization well.” She elaborated that convincing others of your organization’s need is difficult if you yourself are not intimately familiar with its goals and ob- jectives. Familiarity with your target investor is also key, she
said: “any investor wants to know that their money will be spent according to their goals.”
In a time when jobs can be hard to come by for recent graduates, adding skills such as grant writing to your resume makes you more marketable.
Dubey said she would strongly encourage other students to take the workshop. “As a senior, I’m quite aware of how quickly my entrance into the workforce is approaching,” she said, citing preparation for job- hunting as a reason to partici- pate.
The Center for Service and Learning will offer its final grant writing workshop of the year on April 19 and 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Slocum Com- mons. Sign-ups are happen- ing now through the Center, Worner 205B. Space is limited to the first twenty partici- pants; registration requires a
$40 refundable deposit.
Seniors Say Goodbye
Colin McCarey
Community Kitchen Manager
I started volunteering at the CC Community Kitchen on the first Sunday of freshman year. I have dedicated myself to that organization and to other service work ever since. Service has defined my experience at CC in a way that academics and other clubs alone have not. When I have forgotten every fact I ever learned in class, I will still possess the ethos of service that I gained through the Center for Service and Learning. I have dedicated myself to helping others while in college, and this is a dedication that I intend only to strengthen in these coming years. In departing, I would like to thank the CSL for the trans- formation that it catalyzed in me. I now recognize that I can and will persist in my determination to improve the world, one small step at a time.
Greg Collette
Newsletter Editor
I have too many great memories from my three years at the Center to count, but if I had to pick one, it would un- doubtedly be the pumpkin assembly line we made during one staff retreat at the Happy Apple Farm in Penrose, CO. By then all the apples were too old for the Happy Apple to sell them, so we were picking them to donate to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Unexpectedly, they had a problem with which we could help them. One of their biggest draws that time of year, of course, was the pumpkin patch. That year, though, it had been a little too popular and the patch was empty the week before Halloween! The Farm still wanted to give the kids the unique experience of picking their pumpkin from a patch, so they shipped in these huge crates of pumpkins.
Our task? To hide them in the patch for the kids! At first it was slow going, but then, somehow, we came up with the brilliant idea to start a pumpkin assembly line, tossing these five to ten pound pumpkins to each other across the patch.
The coordination, and the fact that we did not drop one, was amazing but the best was Tonita shaking her head while Gay was laughing hers off.
I took my camera out and snapped a few pictures, and they are still some of my favorites. Everyone’s smiling and working together to make some kid’s Halloween that much more fun. It made me truly realize how much of a family the Center is, something I think translates in to the quality of service the Center does for the campus and the community, and one of the things I am going to miss the most when I graduate next month. Thank you everyone, especially Tonita and Gay, for such an amazing three years!
Marley Hamrick
Special Events Coordinator
Since my first meeting with Elizabeth Pudder to discuss volunteer opportunities my first year at CC, I haven’t been able to leave since. I found an amazing community and endless opportunities at the Center. The professional staff, student staff, and student leaders have served as both my mentors and friends throughout my time at CC. The Center “fam- ily” has enabled me to pursue all of my social justice and community service ambitions, no matter how seemingly crazy. I have been so fortunate to be part of such a supportive, encouraging, and visionary community during my time at CC. I will miss you all so much, but you will always be with me in spirit and memories. Thank you for everything!
Emily Burton-Boehr
Community Kitchen Manager
The Center for Service and Learning has been a great place to work. As a student manager of the soup kitchen, I’ve gained leadership experience, valuable insight into the working of non-profits, and knowledge about issues that affect many people’s lives. The CSL also has a great, energetic atmosphere that I will miss! Everyone is upbeat, hardworking, and dedi- cated to service; it’s refreshing!
The Center would also like to wish a fond farewell to Stephanie Beltran (left), our International Service Leader, and Lauren Schultz (right), one of our Community Kitchen Managers.
A huge thank you to all
our graduating student
staff members — we
greatly appreciate all the
energy and hard work
you’ve contributed during
your time here!
THE CENTER FOR SERVICE & LEARNING
WORNER CAMPUS CENTER 205B PHONE: (719) 389-6846 FAX: (719) 389-6137
NEWSLETTER EDITORS: GREG COLLETTE AND LAUREL HECKER WEBSITE: https://www.coloradocollege.edu/students/servicelearn
Our Mission Statement:
The Center for Service and Learning was created to promote an ethic of service and to develop civic- minded leadership among all members of the college community. Our purpose is to recognize and understand the civic and social challenges of our world and to act with others in pursuit of a just society.
Relay for Life
April 13 Beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 13, Relay for Life is a 12 hour overnight walk-a-thon to raise aware- ness and funds for cancer research. Participants raise money by recruiting sponsorship from family and friends. All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society, and CC’s local event is organized by our chapter of Colleges Against Cancer. Sign up at ccrelay.org
CC Community Kitchen 20th Birthday Bash!
April 15 This April the CC Community Kitchen turns 20 years old! On April 15, the Community Kitchen will cel- ebrate two decades of service. The birthday festivities will be held from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. and will include local bands, speakers (including previous managers of the kitchen), and lots of great food.
Zuia Project Presentation
April 16 The Zuia Project is an NGO started by three CC students that seeks to prevent poverty by providing vo- cational training to women. Come to Gaylord Hall in Worner on April 16 at 6:00 p.m. to learn more about their service in Kenya.
Grant-Writing Workshop
April 19-20 The Center’s final Grant-Writing Workshop of the year will teach participants the useful job-skill of how to write a grant. The two-day workshop runs from 9-5 on Thursday and Friday of 7th Block Break.
ASPIRE Graduation
April 24 This year’s class of student leaders graduate from the ASPIRE program. The year-long program teaches leadership skills to develop thoughtful, skilled, and reflective student leaders who can effect positive social change. Graduation will be held on Tuesday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. in Gaylord Hall.
Service Award and Recognition Dessert
April 26 The Center for Service and Learning’s annual event to recognize the multitude of amazing service per- formed by members of the Colorado College community will take place Thursday, April 26 at 5 p.m. in McHugh Commons (above the Preserve).
Blood Drive
May 2 The final blood drive of the year will be held in the main space of Worner Center on Wednesday, May 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Meal Plan Sign-Over
May 8-10 Support the CC Community Kitchen by donating your excess dining dollars! Instead of vanishing into thin air at the end of the year, donated meal plan money will go towards providing meals to those in need.
Donate outside Rastall at lunch and dinner on May 8, 9, and 10. Maximum donation per student is $20.