Mary Baldwin VISTA cultivates new projects

Leah Pallant likes to make things. She bakes sourdough bread, brews her own kombucha (a fermented, sweetened tea), and she's recently gotten back into amateur bookbinding. She also likes to help things grow and spent the winter nudging new life into a few seedlings in her room. She's excited to give them a new home in her yard when the weather gets warm enough.

Leah is the VISTA working out of the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement at Mary Baldwin College, a small, liberal arts school in Staunton, VA. Mary Baldwin has just under 800 residential students which can make the volunteer pool seem dauntingly small. But Leah praises the culture of service at the school and highlights their big push toward service learning for their residential students. Back in October she had great participation at the Food Day events she organized and more recently she lead a group of students on an alternative break experience.

When she's not at Mary Baldwin, Leah spends her time with Project GROWS. Project GROWS is a nonprofit community farm that helps educate the population on nutrition and food security. Leah has established a relationship between the organization and the college that she is confident will continue to flourish after her VISTA term is done in August. Currently, she's working with them to develop a manual on volunteer best practices. She's also connected more than 40 students with volunteer opportunities at Project GROWS. That's 5% of the Mary Baldwin student body!

Leah describes her life so far as a VISTA as both a challenge and a joy. She says she didn't know what to expect when she joined and remembers talking with former VISTAs who told her to get used to ramen noodles and late nights. Others praised the experience. Eight months in Leah says VISTA is what she hoped it would be: "I am autonomous and my coworkers respect me, but I am also getting better at asking for help. Money is tight, but it's nothing a good budget (and a lot of wishing that my car won't break down) can't deal with."

Leah grew up in a small town in North Western Pennsylvania called Meadville. She shares her hometown with Talon Zippers, Dad's Dog Food, and Allegheny College. She did her undergraduate work at Oberlin College and Conservatory and graduated in May of 2012. While there she focused on environmental studies and waste-water treatment and spent all four years working at (and eventually running) the Living Machine.

VISTA was another opportunity for Leah to get creative, get her hands dirty, and give back. Forty percent of the Meadville population lives below the poverty line. Looking back at her experience growing up she says, "Knowing so many people who do so much with so little, I can't imagine doing anything with my life other than giving back everything I can to the people around me." It is this sentiment which reflects what she describes as the driving force behind her service: Tikkun Olam, which translates from Hebrew to 'healing the world' or 'repairing the world.' Leah describes what it means to her:

"The underlying concept is that, though no one person is expected to fix everything, everyone is expected to contribute. I'm not sure what exactly my parents did to make tikkun olam so central to my life, but they did a good job of whatever it was, and I've always known that I want to spend my life working towards social justice. When it came time to graduate college, becoming a VISTA seemed like the perfect next move: a chance to get my hands dirty and build skills that would help me towards my future career while also helping a community."

Leah's dedication to her work, her community, and her drive to serve embodies the VISTA spirit. She brings life to new projects and encourages growth in the partnership between Mary Baldwin and ProjectGROW. It's no wonder then, given the opportunity to have any superpower, Leah choose not flight or telepathy, but to have a real life green thumb so she could coax plants into growing even in rooms without windows.

A Different Break

Spring is here! And students all over the country are choosing to go on alternative break trips. A counter to more traditional spring or winter break trips, alternative breaks are centered around service. The trips often have a theme, usually a social issue like poverty or education, and the experience encourages participants to reflect, grow, and think critically.

Many of our VISTAs planned and executed Alternative Spring Breaks (ASBs) for their host campuses. This week we highlight a few of those trips! And if you are inspired reading about these experiences, plan to join NC Campus Compact's Alternative Service Experiences Institute on June 18-19 at High Point University.

LRU students prepare to paint.

For Ariel Mitchell, VISTA at Lenoir-Rhyne University, the Alternative Spring Break trip she planned and led was a departure from the norm. "We do not have a history of working with community partners in our community on Alternative Spring Breaks. Typically we go outside of the state to show students life in another community." This year, however, they formed a new relationship with Camp Dogwood, a local non-profit. Ariel tells the story of her alternative break experience:

"Camp Dogwood is a meeting and retreat center during the school year and a summer camp for the blind and visually impaired during the summer months. We took 16 students and 2 faculty members, Dr. Hank Weddington, and Dr. Kim Matthews, down to Camp Dogwood, located on Lake Norman, to do various service projects. With the guidance of the camp director, Susan King, the students painted screened-in porches, did some gardening at the front of the main office, and tightened screws on the bottom of chairs to make sure they were safe to sit in. The students stayed in the same quarters that any normal Camp Dogwood camper would stay in. They were even able to go out on Lake Norman in Dr. Matthews pontoon boat!

Overall there were about 4 screened in porches that were painted, about 500 chairs that were tightened for safe seating, and at least 20 flowers planted. Not only did the gardening students plant flowers, but they put down new wood edging for the gardens as well. By the end of the weekend the teaching fellows had made quite a visual change for the campus of Camp Dogwood. Even with all the hard work, the students still seemed relaxed by the beauty of Camp Dogwood. Sitting right on Lake Norman, there was a dock, a swimming area, birds, plants, and tress, that would take your breath away. Not to mention the beautiful weather that blessed the weekend with its presence. It was a wonderful weekend for service with a wonderful group of Lenoir-Rhyne students."

Mary Baldwin College VISTA, Leah Pallant, planned and led an ASB based around the issue of food insecurity. Leah and a dozen students wound their way through central Virginia and ventured north to Washington, D.C. They visited the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee University, prepared and served a meal at Martha's Table, visited a food co-op, volunteered at a food bank, and learned about urban gardening at Tricycle Gardens. Participants examined the relationship between poverty and food security and laid the foundation for a long-term relationship between Mary Baldwin students and the organizations they visited. Leah described students at Mary Baldwin as having an "exemplary drive, understanding, and hunger for knowledge."

Jeri poses with Dive Into Durham students.

Jeri Beckens, VISTA at Duke University, also led a local ASB experience called Dive Into Durham. The group of ten Duke students worked with local non-profit organizations including the Durham Branch of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina where they bagged more than 2,100 meals. They also painted a conference room at the Community & Family Life Recreation Center at Lyon Park and prepared more than 200 meals at a homeless shelter. Over the course of the week the group logged more than 200 hours of service at seven different sites.

Wake Tech Community College VISTA, Jennifer Evans describes her ASB experience as being one she'll never forget. Jennifer tells her story best:

"Our Mission: Rebuild homes for people still affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Our Residence: Camp ReStore -- We were roughing it!
Our Partner: The St. Bernard Project

Jennifer Evans shows her AmeriCorps pride!

Six of us left on this journey together and we returned with shiny, new capacity-building skills, a new respect for the heart and courage of the people in New Orleans, and a greater understanding of exactly what AmeriCorps members can accomplish.

The St. Bernard Project restores homes and builds new homes to sell at a discounted price for people whose homes cannot be restored. We worked on a home that was going to be sold to a very worthy family. It was great to see that AmeriCorps members were in charge of the construction of the house! We bonded instantly and had lots of opportunities to discuss the different paths we have taken in AmeriCorps and how it's changed our lives for the better.

I am not the best painter in the world, but that was our charge for the week. We painted walls, borders, and ceilings. We learned to caulk and tape, and about the ins and outs of the business of building homes. We also spent a portion of a work day touring the levees and hearing stories from people who live directly across the street from them. We heard stories of husbands and wives who were separated for weeks and didn't know if their spouse was even alive and stories of people who climbed from their windows and hung onto whatever they could float on and the water took them to the roof of another house. We heard tales of recovery and the importance of our service in the recovery process.

We ended our week with a house-warming party for a woman who has been trying to rebuild her home since December 2005. Since 2005 she has been a victim of construction and insurance fraud twice and lost her husband while trying to rebuild their home themselves. But thanks to students, AmeriCorps members, and the St. Bernard project they got the job done!"

VISTAs lead Food Day events on 3 campuses

On October 24, NC Campus Compact VISTAs helped organize Food Day events on several campuses, including Mary Baldwin College in Virginia, Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, and UNC Wilmington. Their efforts were part of a nationwide campaign to promote healthy, affordable, sustainably-produced local food. In keeping with their focus on food security, these VISTAs coordinated campus and community-wide events to raise awareness about the challenge of food access.

At UNC Wilmington, VISTA Olivia Dorsey helped coordinate and promote a full slate of campus and community events beginning at 8 AM with speeches by Wilmington mayor Bill Saffo and other local officials and ending with evening presentations at a local food co-op, Tidal Creek. A highlight of the day was the "Local Lunch" served at UNCW's dining hall, where students and guests enjoyed local pork chops, collards and other dishes. The diners thus met the Food Day Challenge, eating one meal consisting solely of local foods.

County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield helps proclaim Food Day Wilmington.

Morning workshops by experts highlighted healthy cooking and nutrition, and afternoon panel discussions addressed food insecurity and how local non-profits are working to expend healthy food options for citizens. Both Dorsey and her VISTA supervisor, Dr. Leslie Hossfeld, presented on behalf of Food Day sponsor Feast Down East. Other partners supported the event, including the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC and the Wilmington Housing Authority.

UNCW's Food Day was the culmination of several food-related activities earlier in the week, including an on-campus food drive to support the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC and a screening of the documentary film Food, Inc. at the Lumina Theater.

At Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA, VISTA Leah Pallant coordinated three events. Pallant partnered with a campus sustainability organization, Green Team!, to educate students about the amounts of salt, fat, and sugar found in many processed foods. The team provided participants with an "alternative shopping list" that replaced unhealthy items with healthier snacks. Over 150 students in the dining hall took part in a Soda Pour Out Petition, pledging to give up soda for a time. Some of the data collected from the event will be used in the upcoming Hunger Awareness Week.

Mary Baldwin's Food Day concluded with a screening of Food Mythbusters at the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement. Local businesses donated snacks and local food experts, including the Head of Campus Dining Services and the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank's community outreach coordinator, led a post-film discussion of local food issues. Pallant reported, "Overall, I was very satisfied with what we pulled together for the day, and I am excited to see what comes together during Hunger Awareness Week."

In Hickory, NC at Lenoir-Rhyne, VISTA Ariel Mitchell helped organized the school's 2nd Annual Hunger Banquet. Seventeen students participated, using their meal plans. When they arrived, each student drew an income bracket at random: high-, middle-, or low-income. Students classified as high-income at the best meal. They had their choice of drinks, a rich spread, and cheesecake for desert. Middle-income participants ate more modestly, and had rice and beans. Students who drew the low-income group ate only rice, drank only water, and sat on the floor.

The manager of the Hickory Soup Kitchen also came to talk to the group about the soup kitchen and what their clients really eat. Students were impressed by his familiarity with clients of the soup kitchen, because he knew many of them by name and told their stories. Students got a chance to ask questions about the Soup Kitchen and the services provided and found out that during the summer, the kitchen serves between thirty and sixty children every day. Mtichell used the opportunity to inform participants of volunteer opportunities with the soup kitchen and other local organizations.

Mary Baldwin VISTA contributes to Apple Day service tradition

As part of Mary Baldwin College's annual Apple Day festivities on October 2, NC Campus Compact VISTA Leah Pallant helped organize students for a gleaning excursion to a farm near Strasburg, VA that collected nearly 4,000 pounds of apples to be donated to Washington, D.C.-area food banks. Leah also helped a team of students harvest remaining produce from the community garden to go to a local food bank in Stanton, VA. As a food security VISTA working with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and Project Grows, Apple Day service is just one way Leah is helping to engage the Mary Baldwin community with food needs in her area.

VISTA Leah Pallant (green sweater) encourages volunteers to get digging!

Read more about this fun fall project and check out photos at MBC's site here.