|
|
Jones Presents White Paper on Service
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Crystal Jones presented her White Paper titled “Be the Difference” June
19 in Winebrenner Theological Seminary (WTS). Jones served as the
AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) campus and
community collaboration leader on The University of Findlay campus for
two years.
The audience was welcomed by Dr. DeBow Freed, UF
president, who introduced Jones as someone who “gets others enthused
about service that involves work,” and commented on her positive energy
and ability to organize. Freed noted that Jones has accepted a
full time staff position at the University. She will be instrumental in
cultivating greater participation in service from faculty, staff and
students.
Jones began her presentation with a brief history of
AmeriCorps, a network of service programs that connects Americans to
communities where help is needed, and an introduction of Ohio Campus
Compact, an organization working to support the civic purposes of
higher education. She also discussed the many service projects
that she coordinated with volunteers in the community and UF faculty,
staff and students. A total of 1,795 volunteers from the
University worked 10,711 hours within the community and on campus
during the school year, providing services for a variety of
organizations.
 | | Lesha
Farias, AmeriCorps VISTA supervisor, left, came to UF to congratulate
Crystal Jones, right, on her accomplishments over the past year. |
During freshman orientation weekend last fall, 624
students helped 29 agencies during a one-day orientation service
project. Days of Caring was held last September, and 72 UF and
WTS volunteers logged 288 service hours in the community. The
Agency on Aging benefited from Jones’ help during the year, as
well. Under her direction, volunteers painted and did yard work
for elderly citizens in Hancock County.
Jones also led a group of volunteers to Special Needs Day, where
special needs students from Hancock County enjoy a day at camp.
Other organizations that received Jones’ help include the Hancock
County chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Washington Intermediate school,
Coats for Christmas and Chopin Hall.
On campus, Jones was actively involved in Campus
Compact and UF’s Habitat for Humanity chapter. She led a group of
32 UF faculty, staff and students on an alternative spring break where
the group remodeled seven Habitat for Humanity homes and completed 80
percent of a new construction. Before the trip, the group conducted a
“Will Work for Georgia” campaign and raised $700.
During Act!Speak!Build! Week, an international Habitat for Humanity
campaign to bring youth together, Jones’ UF Habitat chapter organized
Box City and raised $1,900 for the local Habitat affiliate.
Campus organizations built homes out of cardboard to raise awareness of
homelessness. The event was awarded the Model Educational Student
Organization Program of the Year on the University campus.
Jones hopes to incorporate service learning into a variety of academic
courses at UF and encourage faculty, staff and students to be involved
in service projects. For additional information, contact Jones at
419-434-6671.
|
|
|
|
