Community

Marygrove College was one of 30 organizations to receive a 2011 Martin Luther King Day Mini-grant. The grants were distributed by The Michigan Community Service Commission, Michigan Nonprofit Association, Michigan Campus Compact, and Volunteer Centers of Michigan to support 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service projects across the state. Service projects are intended to tackle critical challenges in their communities, including education, economic opportunity, supporting veterans and military families, health, clean energy and environmental stewardship, disaster preparedness, and public safety. Grants range in value from $200 to $1,000.

“Although small amounts, these funds will support critical components of 30 MLK Day service projects in Michigan,” said Kyle Caldwell, President and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association. “Now these organizations can afford the necessary supplies and resources to implement projects that will make a difference in their communities.”

Marygrove’s grant will be used to educate students, through speakers, on the plight of and dreams for homeless veterans in the Detroit area, as well as encourage students to take action to help them.

Marygrove’s Service Learning Committee will assemble over 100 hygiene kits and deliver them to the Detroit Veterans Center on MLK Day and then go to Central United Methodist Church for a city-wide rally for Jobs and Justice, followed by a march in downtown Detroit. The College expects to draw a minimum of 30 college students. An additional 15 youth from the Capuchin Soup Kitchen will make special cards for the vets and 22, 8-12^th graders from the YMCA Young Future Professionals and 100 persons on campus will contribute items for the hygiene kits.  Additional volunteers in this effort include Marygrove alumni, three area dentists (Pam & Alan Faber and Michael Hudgins), DoubleTree Hotel and the CVS Pharmacy adjacent to Marygrove’s campus.

“Prior to the MLK Day events, a presentation about homeless veterans will be given to new students of the Liberal Arts Seminar (IS100),” said Barbara Beesley, IHM, of Marygrove Campus Ministry. “Students enrolled in IS100 are required to participate in at least 5 hours of service to others and we think this is a wonderful way to engage them.”

The Service Learning Program at Marygrove is curricular and co-curricular in nature and provides an opportunity for students to crystallize their learning experiences while living out the college’s mission and commitment to social justice. Curricular service learning involves students in some form of required community service and uses that service as a means of understanding course concepts and personal intervention when addressing social issues. The curricular service learning program requires students to contribute substantial hours of service at a pre-selected community agency site while fulfilling the objectives of that course. Co-curricular service learning is any service experience in which students have intentional learning goals and actively reflect on what they are learning throughout the experience. Annual co-curricular projects include: Make A Difference Day, Martin L. King, Jr. Community Service Day, Senior Service Day, Alternative Spring Break, and Clean Sweep.

For more information, contact Barbara Beesley at (313) 927-1403.