Students hold philanthropic events
Madison Challenge collects cans for pantry
The amount of canned goods collected last week as part of the Madison
Challenge for Patchwork Pantry was smaller than last year.
Students from the Student Government Association, Community-Service Learning,
Make Your Mark On Madison, Student Ambassadors and Circle K International
collected the cans.
"Madison Challenge is a week-long event where we try to get the
JMU community to band together and collect canned goods for Patchwork
Pantry," said junior Kathleen McKay, SGA community affairs co-chair.
"These goods help provide local families with food for the holiday
season."
Madison Challenge began in 2001 in the SGA, with the idea of getting
different organizations on campus to compete to see how many people can
collect the most cans, McKay said.
"I feel that this year we got a slow start and it didn’t get as big as it usually does," McKay said. "We plan to do a spring Madison Challenge 2 and collect more for Patchwork Pantry."\
Greek organizations bags goods for Books for Babies
Several Greek organizations on campus helped to collect $3,000 for Books
for Babies throughout October and November.
Last year during Greek Week, Greek organizations began working with Books
for Babies, a program providing books to newborn babies and their parents.
"As an education major, I was particularly interested in donating
to this group because reading is an essential part of learning,"
said senior Erica Renner, community service chair for Greek Week. "I
think it is important for parents to begin reading to their children at
a young age instead of putting them in front of a television."
The Greek organizations donated $3,000, allowing Books for Babies to
purchase over 1,000 books, bags, pamphlets and bookmarks, according to
Renner. Alpha Phi, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Delta Delta Delta and Zeta Tau Alpha
helped stuff 1,000 bags with a book, pamphlets and a bookmark on Oct.
25.
"The program provides appropriate book bags and read-aloud-information
to newborns and their parents when they leave any one of five hospitals
in our council area," said Faith Ballew, Books for Babies co-chair
and teacher in Augusta County.
The group delivered the bags to Rockingham Memorial Hospital last week, Renner said.
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