Clevelanders participate in Christian A. Cleveland Memorial Week of Service

Communications Staff

Twenty-two faculty, staff and students, along with several friends of the college, participated in the 3rd Annual Christian A. Cleveland Memorial Week of Service June 17-24. They volunteered for six organizations and logged nearly 70 hours of combined service during the week.

Four Clevelanders prepared a meal for guest families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City, Mo. Dr. Mark Pfefer, Dale Marrant, Marla Cope and Sarah Hilliard teamed up to cook a spaghetti dinner, complete with corn, caesar salad, garlic bread and cookies.

“Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House has become a tradition for a few of us here at the college during this special week,” Hilliard said. “It’s always a great experience that allows co-workers to join together to do something good for the community.”

Jalonna Bowie, Scott Albright, Scott Vater and Alan Morgan helped out one morning at the Catholic Charities food pantry. They unloaded a truck containing donated food items, stocked shelves and filled orders for needy families.

A large group traveled to Harvesters Community Food Network to sort and package food and toiletries for the organization’s Project STRENGTH campaign, an eight-week nutrition and wellness education class for low-income families and individuals. Participants were Dr. Clark Beckley, Dr. Karen Doyle, David Foose, John McGlaughlin, Amelia Trollinger, Parker Trollinger, Camryn Backes, Brock Wells and Tina Wells.

Staff from the Office of Admissions and the Undergraduate Office joined other community volunteers at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens to complete a landscaping project. Melissa Denton, Tracy Grindstaff, Leane Wistuba, Judy Stubbendeck and Sarah Shellnutt weeded a large flower garden to prepare it for additional planting and mulching.

Frank Haney and L.C. Primers mowed seven acres at Bethel Seventh Day Adventist Church in Kansas City, Kan. They also completed general landscaping on the property.

Dr. Christena Nicholson spent a Saturday morning at Wayside Waifs Humane Society. She joined the KC Dog Runners organization in walking/running shelter dogs that rarely get a chance to get out to run and drain some energy.

“I was so proud to serve as part of this memorial week, and I was very pleased with my experience at Wayside Waifs,” Nicholson said. “I was thrilled to find an activity linked to wellness. I think I’ve found my niche and will definitely volunteer there regularly.”

Whatever the need, Clevelanders showed up to make a difference in people’s lives. Their activities not only honored the namesake for the memorial week, but also fulfilled one of the three tenets of college’s mission: education, scholarship and service.