Social work professor Marti Bombyk calls them "goose-bump" moments,
those instances where you can see and feel peoples' excitement
and gratitude, and you know your efforts have been worthwhile.
A group of Eastern Michigan University students in Bombyk's
Social Work 350 class experienced that sensation vividly
last summer in the culmination of an outreach class project
that helped residents on Ypsilanti's south side.
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PARKRIDGE PALS: Eastern Michigan University
social work students recently collected backpacks
and other school items to give to children living
in
public housing in the Parkridge Apartments.
The
students also gave the Parkridge Learning Center
a
new paint job. Those pictured are front row,
from
left: Julie Livingston, Sunny Grezlik and
Shina
Patel. Back row, from left are Heaven Dyer-Jones,
Skylan Jones, Charity Jones, Angela Dutcher,
Jennifer
Terry and Kristen Watkins. |
As a service-learning requirement, the group collected
new and gently used items to give to children who are living
in public housing in the Parkridge Apartments. They also
spruced up the Parkridge
Learning Center with extensive painting.
The project group included classmates Charity Jones, Angela
Dutcher, Jennifer Terry, Kristen Watkins, Julie Livingston,
Sunny Grezlik, Jennifer Knight and Shrina Patel.
There were two key days. On Aug. 8, a group including
Patel, Dutcher, Grezlik, Terry, and Watkins painted the
interior walls of the learning center in bright colors,
and added two chalkboards with a special form of paint.
Then,
on Aug. 11, the whole group held a special "Giveaway
Day" at the learning center. Donated items were distributed
and each school-age child of families in the Ypsilanti
Housing Commission received a new school backpack.
The group received plenty of outside help. Sherwin Williams,
on Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti, donated paint and brushes.
A Target store and other friends and family also assisted.
In all, the group raised approximately $11,000 in funds
and in-kind donations during the short, five-week project
period, said Patel, a senior from Farmington Hills. Items
included clothes, personal hygiene items, cleaning products,
books, toys and other household necessities.
The project was a true team effort. Grezlik coordinated
a fundraiser at Applebee's in Westland with a friend who
works at the restaurant. Group members distributed flyers
around neighborhoods, announcing that 20 percent of each
check on that night would be donated to the project. The
event raised nearly $400, said Grezlik, a senior from Plymouth.
Livingston, a senior from Novi, found an excellent bulk
deal online to purchase $1,000 worth of backpacks for half
that price. The group made sure to buy the backpacks in
a variety of colors — black, pastels or bold colors — to
avoid any stigma associated with having the same brand
of backpack.
Knight, a senior from Detroit, had a family friend make
special T-shirts for a bargain price. The group then sold
them to EMU staff and students, and staff at the
Ypsilanti Housing Commission.
Group members estimate that several hundred people showed
up for the Giveaway Day, many of them visibly grateful
for the items and the effort.
"You can just see it in their eyes that they are so excited," Patel
said of the children as they received their backpacks. "You
just know that you helped and they were excited to go to
school."
 |
SCHOOL ITEMS ORGANIZED: Kristen
Watkins,
an EMU social
work student,
organizes school items and clothing
that
were handed out this summer to children
who
live at Parkridge Apartments. Photo by
Shrina Patel |
Livingston said she enjoyed helping people find items
and to be outside with members of the neighborhood community.
"It was so much fun," she said. "I like shopping and that
was like shopping. Kids would say, 'This really helps my
Mom out.' ... It was a really cool experience."
Grezlik said no items were left over after the Giveaway
Day as the turnout exceeded expectations. Kids shared pizza
with the project group.
"Everybody came together on that day and we just had a
good time," Grezlik said.
Bombyk's class has a longstanding relationship with the
housing commission. Last year, the group spearheaded donations
of $28,000 worth of goods, the professor said.
Such actions epitomize the EMU general education requirement
of learning beyond the classroom, as well as the University's
public engagement mission, Bombyk said.
Moreover, by making sure each child was prepared for school
this year with a backpack full of school supplies, the
EMU brand's message was carried further.
"To me, 'Education First' also means that we work to make
educational opportunities available to everyone equally,
and that includes the poorest of children in our communities," Bombyk
said.
The specially made T-shirts symbolized the spirit underlying
their project. The shirts showed four children holding
hands, with the statements "For the love of the children" and "Eastern
Michigan University gives back."
On the other side was a quote from spiritual activist
and author Marianne Williamson. It read: "In every community,
there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds
to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it."
