1. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012
ILCC VISTAs KICK OFF 2012
WITH MLK DAY OF Issue #4, January 2012
SERVICE Contents:
NEW YEAR KICK-OFF
WITH MLK DAY OF
SERVICE 2
TRUMAN COLLEGE CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT FAIR
3
INTERESTING ARTICLES
Volunteers pose during the MLK Day food OF THE MONTH
drive organized by VISTA Kate Eagler 4
“All labor that uplifts This year turned out no
humanity has dignity and different as ILCC VISTAs
JANUARY VISTA
importance and should be from over 20 campuses
SPOTLIGHT
undertaken with painstaking answered that call fervently
excellence.” by putting aside their normal 5
duties to lend a hand on
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Martin Luther King Day.
words resonate with
Americans just as well today From organizing small service
they did almost 50 years ago.gatherings, to participating in
large citywide events, our
Each year on Martin Luther VISTAs showed great strength
King Day we are reminded to in their commitment to service
come forth as socially and civic engagement by
responsible citizens and getting involved first hand in
muster as much effort as we some great direct service
can towards helping advance projects. Here are some of the
the world we live in through projects our VISTAs took part
providing service wherever in during the MLK holiday.
necessary.
2. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue#4, January 4 2012
MLK DAY of Service
Kate Eagler, ILCC VISTA at it’s clear Eagler’s project not only
Millikin University, partnered brought out the generosity in the
with Big Brothers Big Sisters to community, but also made a
organize the “Restock the truly positive impact.
Pantries,” food drive.
Other ILCC VISTAs also helped
Eagler and her volunteers made feed the less fortunate on MLK
‘Dream Bags’ that they placed in Day.
the front of the store so that Andrew Miller, ILCC VISTA at
customers could easily keep Loyola University, took a dozen
track of their donations then Dream Bag station set up in the
students to the St. Thomas
drop the bags off after finishing Canterbury Soup Kitchen where middle of a participating store
their normal shopping. the group ended up feeding
about 250 hungry people in
“It was powerful to witness the need. “The experience of serving
generosity of the community,” these people who are generally
said Eagler. “I’ve heard the ignored by society is humbling
Decatur community is a but gratifying,” said Miller.
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, Continued on page 4 A volunteer working to get
donations for the food drive
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FAIR AT TRUMAN COLLEGE
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.
ILCC VISTA Benita Rice stands with Chicago The fair also featured a special appearance from
Alderman of the 46th Ward James Cappleman Alderman of the 46th Ward, James Cappleman.
Continued on page 6
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3. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012
MLK DAY 2012 (continued)
A thought echoed by Carrie The group then used their
Timmermans, ILCC VISTA at reflections as inspiration for letters
Trinity University, who went that they wrote and sent to
with over 20 students to serve Columbia College student
almost 1,500 meals at the Pacific veterans on campus.
Garden Mission. “It was very
encouraging to see how much ILCC VISTAs Beka Flanagan,
just our presence meant to the Ashleigh Hasselbach and Nikita VISTAs Beka Flanagan and Ashleigh
residents of PGM,” said Stange all found unique projects to Hasselbach pause for a photo during their
Timmermans of her service. link up with for MLK Day.
Soukprida Phetmisy, ILCC Flanagan and Hasselbach, VISTAs
VISTA at Columbia College, led at Louis and St. Francis
two service projects in honor of Universities respectively,
MLK Day. The first, “Rhythm for partnered with Hospital Sisters
a Reason” partnered with the Mission Outreach to sort through
pediatric cancer foundation, Bear discarded medical supplies that
Necessities to give children were to be redistributed to other
quality time to create art in the hospitals in need while Stange
form of accordion books, found herself at the Calumet
paintings of instruments, and Township Community Center
other projects that they could where she facilitated some Students checking in for the Campus Wide
keep. “It's always inspiring to senior programming and Day of Service
share art and see the work that helped out in the kitchen as
you love doing reflected on the well.
faces and through the actions of
ILCC VISTAs Lizzy Caudill and
those you directly encounter…it
Melissa Pognon, both at
provides evidence that this kind
Northwestern University in
of work makes a resounding
Evanston, IL, were more than
impact, especially with young
ready to heed Dr. King’s call to
people,” said Phetmitsy.
service on MLK Day.
Her second MLK event,
Caudill took to the task of
“Moving to Change,” invited
overseeing the “Campus Wide
students to gather in reflection of
Day of Service,” which sent over
the ideas of civic engagement,
150 students out into the VISTA Melissa Pognon takes a moment to
the goals of service learning and smile for the camera before her event
Evanston and Chicago areas to
the steps they could start to take
participate in direct service.
toward making impactful
change in their own Meanwhile, Pognon busied herself
communities. hosting the “Civically Engaged
Alumni Roundtable” where over
20 distinguished NU alumni
traveled from far and wide to hold
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4. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue#4, January 4 2012
MLK DAY OF SERVICE
(Continued)
forums with current
Resource Links for
Northwestern students that January
emphasized the importance of
staying civically engaged 1) Public Transit and School
regardless of their professional Attendance
goals. http://www.wbez.org/story/chicago-
some-find-public-transit-fares-
Last but certainly not least, VISTAs Clare Kessler and Helen Gerety
ILCC VISTAs, Alex Baird, catch up with VISTA Leader Jim Hurley at Story by WBEZ about the link
Helen Gerety, Jaime Ricks, City Year’s “Day On” event between public transit fares and
Clare Kessler and VISTA school attendance. A local school is
leader Jim Hurley all rose to Other ILCC VISTA 2012 reporting that due to high costs of
the challenge of providing MLK Day projects include: train passes that the demand for
service with fellow civic student-reduced fare cards are getting
servers City Year Chicago. Brittany Elder (University higher.
of Springfield)-Community
Together with none other than outreach with American
Chicago’s own Mayor Rahm Red Cross Illinois Capital 2) The New Poverty Line
Emanuel, the team Area Chapter http://www.npr.org/2011/12/15/14377
participated in City Year’s 0049/census-1-in-2-americans-are-
“Day On” event, which Guarav Singh Chicago poor-or-low-income
brought together over 600 School of Professional
volunteers to paint 50 Psychology)- Assisted at About 97.3 million Americans fall into
classrooms, 91 murals, 2 Garfield Community a low-income category, commonly
hallways and much more at Service Center defined as those earning between 100
community centers located in and 199 percent of the poverty level,
Chicago’s North Lawndale Benita Rice (Truman based on a new supplemental measure
neighborhood. College)- Hosted letter by the Census Bureau that is designed
writing campaign at Hull to provide a fuller picture of poverty.
We greatly appreciate all of
House
our ILCC VISTAs along with
any good citizen who was able Christina Bennett (Millikin 3) Congrats to ILCC VISTA Ruthi
to spare some time on MLK University)- Served meals
Brooks for getting some ink!
Day for providing service to http://www.myjournalcourier.com/new
at Daily Bread Soup Kitchen
the community at large. To all s/project-36964-reading-aims.html
of our VISTAs, thank you for
making the 2012 MLK Day of Illinois College’s Sonya Project is
Service a successful one! an after-school program that
provides support for elementary
school students who need help
with reading.
Volunteer Count Update Total Hours
Have an interesting or insightful
Individuals who served as community volunteers 2,590 58,577 link to share? Feel free to send an
Disadvantaged Youth/Children served 3,268 email to jhurley6@depaul.edu or
camwoods007@gmail.com so it can
Students participating in P-16 education programs 1,049 be included in the next newsletter!
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5. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012
Truman Civic Engagement Fair
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.”
Truman Students crowd the tables of the
Cappleman also called students in attendance to
many community organizations at the fair
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 ILCC VISTA Benita Rice poses with
had an interest in “resolving issues with health Chicago Health Corps VISTA Neerja Joshi
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 Eager students signing into the event
at Truman College, send an email to ILCC VISTA
Benita Rice at benita.rice@gmail.com.
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6. Illinois Campus Compact 2012 Issue #4, January 2012
JANUARY VISTA SPOTLIGHT
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!
Elizabeth Caudill ILCC VISTA
Northwestern University
Illinois Campus Compact
55 E. Jackson Blvd
8th Floor Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60604