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What a gift to serve ones in need

It was quite a sight! On a recent Sunday evening, The McDonnell Center at Davis & Elkins College was filled with students, faculty, staff and community members positioned around dozens of tables. Hairnets adorned their heads. Looking down from the walking track above, they appeared to be like scurrying insects as they completed the assigned tasks around their tables and passed completed bags to the next station. The raucous music and the smiles on faces made it obvious the 400 or so volunteers were having a great time.

Within about an hour, the crowd had assembled more than 20,000 dehydrated meals for distribution somewhere within the world where the need would be critical. Rise Against Hunger, a non-profit organization, led the event funded primarily by the Student Assembly of Davis & Elkins College with assistance from Mill Creek Presbyterian Church and Dominion Energy. What a gift to serve people in need and have fun in the process.

Returning to campus several days before the arrival of other students for the fall semester, the D&E volleyball team spent two full days working at Tyrand Ministries in Mill Creek.

They painted two of Tyrand’s buildings, helped organize the thrift store and assisted with the organization’s yard sale. Perhaps their biggest project was helping a family remove a deck from their trailer. The student-athletes did all this for others while also bonding as a team. What a gift to serve people in need and have fun in the process.

The evening of the first day of classes for the fall semester, more than 320 Davis & Elkins College student-athletes were walking the streets of Elkins. Armed with gloves and trash bags, they were deployed far and wide across the city picking up trash. Making their way from all directions to City Hall, they were joined by Mayor Van Broughton for the ceremonial firing of the cannon … a D&E tradition when an athletic team wins a contest. How appropriate that the cannon was fired for this win, which not only applied to D&E but to our community as well. What a gift to serve people in need and have fun in the process.

I am proud of our students. They come to Elkins from across West Virginia, across the United States and from six continents. For their time as students, they are residents of Elkins. Giving back to the community that provides for them is a part of their education. Whether packaging meals or picking up trash, our students are learning the basic premise that we are all God’s children, we all have responsibilities for each other, and our communities are richer and stronger when we place service above self.

Some say they are concerned about this generation now emerging into adulthood. I am not. The students I interact with daily on the D&E campus give me hope.

They can, and shall, teach many of us the virtues of sacrifice, service and compassion. They are also wise enough to have some fun in the process!

The journey continues….

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