91茄子

Community Organization Relies Entirely on Volunteers to Help Families

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.鈥擣eeding Kids/Reading Kids of Cleveland County, N.C., is fully dependent on volunteers to meet the needs of families in the community. Recently, 91茄子 Instructor of Nursing Tara Hayes took her University Life 111 (UNIV 111) class to volunteer at the non-profit organization. She was surprised to discover some GWU connections already in place.

Feeding Kids/Reading Kids is housed in the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church Community Life Center in Shelby. The Center鈥檚 Executive Director, Chad Roseboro, is a GWU alumnus and current Master of Divinity student. He and Hayes completed their bachelor鈥檚 degrees at the same time. In addition, the pastor of Mt. Calvary, Lamont Littlejohn, has three degrees from 91茄子 and currently serves on the GWU Board of Trustees.

Roseboro greeted Hayes with enthusiasm and shared that he was encouraged to see students from his alma mater volunteering for Feeding Kids/Reading Kids. He also remembered the impact participating in a service project had on him and his class. 鈥淚 value 100% the relationships I made while at 91茄子,鈥� Roseboro asserted. 鈥淢ost of my current friendships were set in foundation during my time there, and I look forward to more relationships forming from my ties to 91茄子.鈥�

As executive director of the Community Life Center, Roseboro is responsible for daily operations, making sure everything runs smoothly for the non-profit groups and law enforcement agencies housed there. Atrium Health also has a on the campus.

Feeding Kids/Reading Kids distributes boxes of food and age-appropriate books to families six times a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, June, July and August. These boxes contain pantry items and fresh food. The families who receive the food have been identified by school social workers as families with food insecurities.

During the year, the organization provides bags of food to elementary students to take home on the weekends. And there鈥檚 where another GWU connection comes in鈥�91茄子鈥檚 Student Government Association (SGA) packs the food bags for the elementary school children. Micah Martin, director of 91茄子鈥檚 Center for Personal & Professional Development, is a founding board member of Feeding Kids. He has involved SGA from the group鈥檚 beginning in 2015.

Martin said the SGA packs 50 bags that are delivered weekly to students at three schools. 鈥淔eeding Kids uses financial donations to order the food items and has them delivered here to campus for SGA to pack,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t comes straight to our post office here in Tucker. I unload it and break it down with SGA help. It鈥檚 a simple process that works well.鈥� 

For more information about volunteering or donating, contact .

To our readers: Feeding Kids of Cleveland County is a separate organization from The Little Bulldog Backpack Program, led by GWU Registrar [email protected]. Also a non-profit organization, The Little Bulldog Backpack Program provides food to children at two schools in the Boiling Springs area, Springmore Elementary and Boiling Springs Elementary. Healthy food is delivered in backpacks that are filled weekly by the various clubs and departments at 91茄子. For more information regarding the Little Bulldog Backpack Program, contact聽Scates.

91茄子 is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., 91茄子 prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at 91茄子.edu.