Union's Bonner Scholars Provide Community Service in Atlanta

The Union College Bonner Scholars spent Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in Atlanta, Georgia for a weekend of service, education, and teambuilding in honor of the fallen civil rights leader. The national slogan for MLK Day is "a day on, not a day off." The Bonner Scholars certainly held to that as they participated in two days of service projects.

On Saturday, Union College alumni Ricardo Rodriguez '04 and Lisa Jordan-Payne '88 (MA, '93) joined the group in assisting Atlanta's Habitat for Humanity in building a new home. Bonners hung soffit, caulked, painted, laid tile, seeded the yard, and assisted with the construction of a wheelchair ramp.

On Sunday, the group focused on education with a visit to the King Center and a bus tour through historic districts of Atlanta that were focal points of the civil rights movement. On Monday, the Bonners worked with Hands On Atlanta at Atlanta Union Mission's Carpenter House, a halfway house for formerly homeless men. The group cleaned the facility, organized a clothing closet, and sorted Christmas decorations.

Even though a lot of the student's time was spent learning and serving, some time was spent having fun. Students were treated to recreational time at Underground Atlanta and ESPN Zone.

Union's students stayed the weekend with the help of members from the Decatur First United Methodist Church. The church members housed and provided church services there Sunday morning for students.

Debbie D'Anna, dean of students and director of the Bonner Scholars Program, and Lee Ann Luxenberger, director of the Common Partners Program and coordinator of the Bonner Scholars Program led the group trip. Chrystal Pridemore '07 organized the trip. Other students attending included: Ruthie Arnold '08, Gary Bennett '06, Travis Carmack '08, Briana Dunn '08, Rodolfo Forti '05, Rodrigo Forti '07, Lisa Fugate '06, Adam Harper '08, DeLange Harris '08, Heather Leger '06, Dudley McKenna '07, Hannah McQueen '05, H'Cella Mlo '08, Travis Partin '07, Kayla Singley '06, Kim Smith '06, and Chris Tuttle '05.

The Bonner Scholars Program, sponsored by the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation of Princeton, NJ, is a four-year community service scholarship that exists to provide high quality services to its community through developing well-trained, committed volunteer leaders. It offers financial support to students from low-income backgrounds that want to attend college and provides them with an opportunity to engage in community service activities while in college. In exchange for working weekly in local non-profit agencies, Bonner Scholars are awarded scholarship funds to defray education expenses. Union College is one of twenty-five colleges nationwide that offers and supports the Bonner Scholars Program.

The Bonner Scholars Program is in its seventh year at Union College. It has seen sixteen graduates of the program: Fernando Piza (Brazil), Misty Shepherd Pool (Smilax, KY), Karen Caldwell (Bristol, TN), Chris Howard (Stinnett, KY), Chris Bowling (Barbourville, KY), Lucas Green (Harlan, KY), Skyler York (Clarksville, TN), Karisha Couch (Booneville, KY), Carolina Costa (Campinas, Brazil), Melissa Day (New Albany, IN), Paulo Canineu Neto (Campinas, Brazil), Malesore Hajdini (Pristina Kosovo), Aggeliki Alimonos (Broomfield, CO), Antonio Almeida (Campinas, Brazil), Ricardo Rodriguez (Norcross, GA), and Amy Cobb (Woollum, KY). In addition to working in community non-profits, Bonner Scholars also sponsor and participate in such services as Timeless Tales Reading Center, Knox County Repair Affair, UC Make a Difference Day, and UC Community Service Day.

January 26, 2005

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