Category: Community Service

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemoration offers great message

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MLK day (canstockphoto15309028)

By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may no longer be with us, but his dream is alive and well.

Monday marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and organizations across the country are prepared to celebrate Dr. King and his legacy. You can count Penn State Behrend among those organizations.

In honor of Dr. King and his dream, the college will hold the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemoration. Numerous themed events will be held during the week, including an “I Am His Dream” March, a community service project, viewings of the film The Butler, and more.

Andy Herrera, director of the Educational Equity and Diversity Office, chaired Penn State Behrend’s MLK Committee this year and helped plan many of the events.

I talked with Herrera about the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the activities planned at Behrend.

Steve: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemoration has been a regular tradition at Behrend. Why is this an important week for the college?

Andy: I’ve been at Behrend for the past eleven years, and I’ve chaired the MLK Committee for most of those years. I’m very proud of the fact that Penn State Behrend has always been recognized in the Erie community for its MLK programming. We’ve had speakers ranging from Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson. I recognized that when I started, and I wanted to continue the tradition of strong MLK programming.

It’s very important for two reasons. The first is the significance of that era in our nation’s history. It’s important for us and our students to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. It was not just about Dr. King, but he was the driving force behind that. The second reason is the message. The message of peace, justice, and equality for all is outstanding. It’s important to commemorate, celebrate, and promote the historic value and message within our campus community, especially to our students.

Steve: This year’s theme is titled “We Are His Dream.” How did you choose that theme?

Andy: Activities and events are planned by the Behrend MLK Committee, which includes faculty, staff, and students. A college-wide invitation is made in September and then different participants come together for discussions about the commemoration. For example, I ask each member of the committee, ‘Why are you on this committee? Why is this important to you?’ Everyone then shares their perspective on why it is important to them, and then we start looking for a theme. We may come up with a theme then and there, or we may look at possible events and performers to provide us with a theme.

When we were looking for performers this year, we ran across Michael Fosberg, who has a play called Incognito. The play details Fosberg’s life experience of being adopted and growing up to find out his father was an African American, which was an incredible realization for him. He then starts to try to figure out his background and identity. The story sounds incredible, so we decided to invite Michael and have our theme revolve around identity. We then started to think about who we are as a college. Of course, we are Penn State. But we also believe we are the type of community where all are respected, where there is equal justice, and where there is harmony. Hey, that sounds like Dr. King’s dream. So, in a way, we are his dream.

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Steve: How has the MLK Commemoration changed since you started at Behrend eleven years ago?

Andy: When I first started, the luncheon used to be a breakfast, and we wanted to do it before everyone went back to work, so it would be at 7:00 a.m. If we were lucky, we would have one student show up. At some point, we decided to turn it into a brunch, and it helped. This year, we made it a lunch to help us fit in the march. The events have remained similar, though. We always try to have events that are meaningful and entertaining. We also try to do at least one community service project. This year, we will be partnering with the Erie City Mission to feed needy families. In the past, we have done Habitat for Humanity, and we did a college fair for Diehl Elementary School.

Steve: I can tell that a lot of planning and preparation goes into all of these events. What’s the ultimate goal in mind?

Andy: I think the ultimate goal is for people to learn about this time period. Students have some level of knowledge now, but it’s always good for them further learn about these moments in our nation’s history. Most importantly, I want them to be inspired to become better people.

Steve: Do you see the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemoration remaining a staple here at Behrend?

Andy: This is something that I think we’ll continue to do for as long as I’m here. This occasion is a good time to pause and ponder about that era and how it impacted our society for the better. Every year, I think this MLK Commemoration lends itself to a moment of reflection. Hopefully we can continue to learn about it, and also find inspiration in knowing that the efforts made during that time period have helped us become a better society and community.

Scheduled events:

Monday, Jan. 20:  Incognito. Acclaimed author and performer Michael Fosberg shares the story of his personal journey to discover himself, his roots, his family, and the difficult history behind the tragic American complexity of “race.”
Campus Family Luncheon, 11:30 a.m., McGarvey Commons
(Presentation begins at noon).

Tuesday, Jan. 21: Students and MLK Commemoration Committee members will visit the Early Learning Center and conduct activities with the children related to MLK.
Early Learning Center, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 22: The Butler. The Lion Entertainment Board presents the story of White House butler Eugene Allen, who witnessed great social change while serving eight different presidents over thirty years.
9:00 p.m., Reed Auditorium
(The film will be shown again at 9:00 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, and at 10:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, and Saturday, Jan. 25.)

Thursday, Jan. 23: “Who’s Cooking What?” The MLK Committee will partner with the Erie City Mission to help serve lunches to needy families. The committee will fundraise to purchase the ingredients, and students and volunteers will serve the families.
8:30 a.m., Erie City Mission

Paint the campus purple for #AJO

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From left, Anthony Cremonese, Melissa Lichtinger, and Antoine Holman are part of the student team working on the #AJO Forever Foundation website.

By Heather Cass
Publications & Design Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

Melissa Lichtinger, a senior majoring in international business and marketing, was working at the Make a Wish booth at a women’s expo in Erie this October when she met Alyssa O’Neill’s father, Jason, and knew she wanted to do whatever she could to help with the #AJO campaign.

AJO stands for Alyssa J. O’Neill, 18, who was a first-year student at Penn State Behrend when she died after suffering a grand mal seizure at home. The day before her death, O’Neill had texted her mother, saying they should meet at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte. After her funeral, her parents, Jason and Sarah, bought ten of the drinks for strangers. The barista marked the cups—using purple, a color associated with epilepsy awareness—with #AJO.

That spurred a far broader pay-it-forward campaign. People paid for strangers’ meals, gas, groceries and layaway purchases. They sent #AJO photos from London, Iraq and the Canary Islands. It’s still going. The #AJO Forever in Our Hearts Facebook page has more than 41,000 “likes.”

“Jason said that he and his wife were overwhelmed just trying to keep up with the photos and correspondence pouring in through the AJO  Facebook page,” Lichtinger said. “I wondered how, with my background in marketing, I could help them.”

She asked Dr. Kathleen Noce, senior lecturer in management information systems, if Partnership Erie, a nonprofit outreach extension of the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, could develop a new eCommerce website and social media strategy for the AJO Forever foundation.

Noce agreed and Lichtinger recruited four more students—Anthony Cremonese, Antoine Holman, Kelsie Noce, and Michael Thompson—to work on the project with her.

The new site is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

But Lichtinger didn’t think that was enough. “I really wanted to do something to raise money for the foundation,” she said.

So she talked to Rhonda Reynolds, a Housing and Food Services employee who helped create a very successful employee service committee, and together they came up with the idea to “paint the campus purple” on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Students, faculty, and staff are all invited to wear purple and take part in making the letters #AJO for a group photo on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. in the Clark Café in the Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center. Participants are asked to give at least $2 to the AJO Forever Fund to be a part of the photo.

Students will begin collecting donations at 3 p.m. The first 200 to donate will receive a free purple hat!

The event is sponsored by The Sam and Irene Black School of Business, Partnership Erie, Behrend Commission for Women, the School of Nursing, and Grimm’s Embroidery.

Hope to see you there!

International Coastal Cleanup soggy, but successful

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By Heather Cass
Publications & Design Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

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Steady rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of nearly 100 Penn State Behrend students, faculty members, staff, and friends who participated in Saturday’s Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup, an annual event in which volunteers collect garbage from more than a dozen waterways and sites in Erie County.

Penn State Behrend typically focuses on the Four Mile Creek, which flows through Wintergreen Gorge, cleaning it (and it’s tributaries) from the headwaters in Greene Township to the mouth where it empties into the lake in Lawrence Park.

But a steady all-night rain and rushing storm waters made Four Mile too dangerous to clean on Saturday morning.

“The only spot we could safely clean up off campus was an area at the mouth of Four Mile creek ,” said Ann Quinn, lecturer in biology and coordinator of Behrend’s International Coastal Cleanup

There, a school bus full of students, faculty and staff collected 372 pounds of trash, including a tire and an anchor.

My daughter, 10, and I were among the group cleaning up at the mouth of Four Mile. As we left the site, lugging out our bags and bags of trash and recycleables, a slight movement in the sand caught my eye.

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A baby snapping turtle.

I couldn’t believe that none of us had trampled the little thing in our cleanup efforts.  My daughter and I marveled at the tiny creature for a few moments. She, of course, wanted to take him home. I, of course, said no.

“He is home,” I said as I put him down on the beach where he blended perfectly into the sand and rocks on the shore of the lake.

“Well, then, I’m glad we made it a little cleaner for him,” she said.

“Yeah, me, too,” I said.

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Back at Penn State Behrend, another group of volunteers conducted a clean up around the Wintergreen Gorge where they collected 150 pounds of trash, 75 each of recyclables and trash. And more than 1,000 cigarette butts!

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Help needed for International Coastal Cleanup (free T-shirt and lunch!)

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By Heather Cass
Publications & Design Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

1,400 pounds – that’s the total weight in trash that 150 Penn State Behrend students, faculty members, and staff cleaned out of Fourmile creek during last year’s International Coastal Cleanup.

From the headwaters of the creek at Hartman Road in Greene Township through campus (Fourmile is the creek that runs through Wintergreen Gorge) and on to Napier Park in Wesleyville, volunteers collected 63 bags of trash and 58 bags of recyclable materials.

That’s a lot of cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and soda cans that didn’t make it into the lake (because, eventually, it all ends up in the lake!)

You have to step back and realize that the watershed is not just water,” said Ann Quinn, lecturer in biology and coordinator of Behrend’s International Coastal Cleanup. “It’s everything that leads into it.”

The Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup is an annual event in which volunteers collect garbage from more than a dozen sites in Erie County, including Presque Isle State Park.

This year’s cleanup event is scheduled for Saturday, September 21 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Can you help?  Faculty members and staff are needed to help lead student groups. Community members and children are welcome to participate, too.  Bring the whole family!

Volunteers will meet in front of Reed Union Building at 9:30 a.m.  All necessary materials (gloves, trash bags, etc.) will be provided, and you’ll also get a free T-shirt and a free lunch at Bruno’s after the cleanup.

Word to the wise: wear boots and/or shoes that can get wet & dirty!

If you can volunteer, please contact Ann Quinn at abq1 at psu.edu by Saturday, September 14!

Community Service Team collecting items for soldiers

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By Heather Cass

Publications and Design Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

Rhonda Reynolds a food service worker in Dobbins Dining Hall and founder of the Housing and Food Services’ Community Service Team, is always looking for opportunities to give back. (There’s a reason Rhonda was chosen to receive the 2013 Achieving Women Award!). So when she recently met Tina Lindsey, who told her about her son, R.J., a Lance Corporal in the 2nd Tank Bn., 2nd Marine Division currently serving in Afghanistan, Rhonda wanted to help (of course).

“Tina told me how much her son and the other guys look forward to getting care packages and I thought maybe that would be a good thing for the Community Service Team to get involved with,” Rhonda said.

“It’s like Christmas every time they get a box,” said Tina Lindsey, who said her son would be serving in Afghanistan until at least February.

The H&FS Community Service Committee, which includes, Shelly Sonney, Char Snyder, Dan Hutchins, Bill Underhill, Renee’ Pure, Sally Newcomer,Bonnie Stearns, Annie Rogala & Brenda Horvath, agreed it would be a great project as did Mike Lindner, director of Housing and Food Services, who gave the team permission to put donation boxes in campus dining facilities.

The team will collect nonperishable items (list below) until Nov. 22. Shortly after, items will be boxed up and shipped off to 2nd Tank Bn., 2nd Marine Division in Afghanistan.

Donations can be dropped off in the “Operation Care Package” boxes located in Bruno’s Cafe, Dobbins Dining, Clark Cafe, Elements, and The Galley.

What should you buy?  Here’s a printable list you can take shopping with you:

operation care package

~ Heather