TWC ARCHES Winter 2013

TWC students travel to Mississippi
to volunteer for alternative fall break
Fall break at Tennessee Wesleyan College is a welcome bit
of time off for most students. For a few, it’s an opportunity
to volunteer that time by providing community service. During
this year’s October fall break, 14 students, two staff members
and TWC’s AmeriCorps VISTA traveled to Biloxi, Miss., to donate
their fall break time to volunteer at various service programs
throughout the city.
Sponsored by TWC’s Student Government Association, students
Drew Akens, Edith Barajas, Isabella Daniels, Tiffany Dierden,
Caitlin Dryer, Mathew Gentry, Jasmine Hickman, Alex Hoffman,
Kate Lowe, Lisa Munoz, Mariana, Perini, T.J. Pike, Nathan Reed,
and Laetitia Sabiti paid $25 each for travel expenses and made
the eight-hour drive to Biloxi where they served various programs
around the city.
“This 2013 alternative fall break trip was
a wonderful opportunity for students to
collaborate next to staff members and work
toward a great cause.”
Accompanied by TWC Director of the Center for Servant Leadership
Mandie Thacker Beeler, Director of Student Activities Kerrie
Lynn, and AmeriCorps Vista Matt
Harper, the fourteen TWC students
volunteered with underprivileged
children and adults.
“This trip showed me that hunger
and poverty are not only right in my
own backyard, but are also spread
throughout the country and the
world,” said Matthew Gentry, a TWC
junior biology major.
“My time in Mississippi made me think
more about what I can do for others
rather than what I can do for myself. I
would highly recommend alternative
break trips to college students.”
Tennessee Wesleyan alternative
break trips allow students to travel
to economically, culturally, and
environmentally diverse locations all
across the United States and provide
service-learning opportunities working
with important issues such as the
environment, education, immigration, poverty, and other unmet
human needs.
At the Moore Community House (MCH) in Biloxi, students worked
in Early Head Start classrooms, where they prepared and served
lunch for the children and teachers, developed learning activities,
and decorated the classrooms.
At the MCH Women in Construction program, which is designed to
teach low-income women the skills needed to join the construction
trade, students power washed buildings, pruned shrubbery, and
helped build a new educational facility for participants of the
organization.
On their last day in Miss., the students volunteered with Loaves
and Fishes, a community kitchen dedicated to feeding Biloxi’s poor
and hungry. The students served breakfast and lunch, cleaned and
reorganized the freezer and storage areas, and spent time talking
with the clients of the organization.
“This 2013 alternative fall break trip was a wonderful opportunity
for students to collaborate next to staff members and work toward
a great cause,” said Kerrie Lynn, TWC director of student activities.
“The best part for me was serving food to people in need because
it was more than just dishing out food. We were able to sit and
talk with those individuals and truly learn from their personal
stories. It has sparked numerous conversations back on the TWC
campus, inspiring the staff and students to do more of that type of
volunteer work.”
For more information about TWC alternative fall and spring
break trips and servant leadership, visit http://www.twcnet.edu/
academics/service/alternative-break-trips/ or contact TWC Director
of the Center for Servant Leadership Mandie Thacker Beeler by
phone at 423-746-5244 or by email at mthacker@twcnet.edu. A
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ARCHES | Winter 2013