September 4, 2003
More than 400 New Students Participate in Community Service
NASHVILLE, Sept. 4, 2003 – The fact that it was the Saturday of the Labor Day holiday weekend didn't stop about 150 of Belmont University's newest students from participating in one of a variety of community service opportunities as part of new student orientation. And after this coming Saturday, all told more than 400 of Belmont's approximately 1,000 new students, including freshman and transfers, will have taken part in a service opportunity, says Associate Dean of Students Dane Anthony.
"We have been incorporating a community service aspect into freshman orientation for six or
seven years. It's typically the last event that we close out orientation with," says Anthony. "We feel like it is a great way to finish out a week, and to convey to students that it's not just about fun … but about living out Belmont's values and getting out into the world and living out Belmont's vision of transforming students and intersecting students' learning with the world's needs. We're about more than just classroom learning and having fun."
On Saturday, Sept. 6, new Belmont students will participate in a variety of community service and outreach efforts at the Bethlehem Centers of Nashville, Nashville Rescue Mission-Women's Ministry, J.C. Napier Homes Outreach, Second Harvest Food Bank, Youth Encouragement Services, Catholic Charities, Rocketown, Morningside at Belmont, Feed the Children, Nashville Humane Association, Monroe Harding Children's Home, Salvation Army Thrift Store, World Relief, Brighton Gardens Assisted Living, and the Campus for Human Development.
On Saturday, August 30, new Belmont students took part in one of a variety of community service opportunities, including visiting with residents at the nearby Morningside at Belmont retirement home.
"We had a group that went to the Feed the Children warehouse to put together boxes for needy families," says Anthony. Others went to Catholic Charities to help sort donated clothing, some went to Rocketown, a youth-oriented Christian entertainment hangout to help clean the facility, and still others went to the local Nashville Humane Association to "clean the facility, walk the dogs, and help out some," Anthony says. Another group of new Belmont students went to an inner city youth outreach program where they met and accompanied some inner city kids to the Vanderbilt-Ole Miss college football game.
What do new students learn from the community service? "The world is bigger than they think it is," says Anthony, "and there are people right down the street that can use their help and they've got gifts and time to offer."
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