Baking to Build Community

This holiday season the Campus Corps team at Fort Peck Community College, located in Poplar, MT on the Fort Peck Reservation, came together to brighten the holiday season for a local family in need. With the knowledge that many of their fellow FPCC students are burdened by the constant struggle to make ends meet, and are especially financially strained during the holiday season, they decided to participate in a Family Sponsorship for one such family. This was certainly no easy task for the group of already busy college students, as it entailed raising enough money to buy gifts for each of the family members and additionally providing them with a Christmas dinner.

In order to make this happen, Corps members directed their efforts to the kitchen and organized a campus bake sale to raise the funds needed for their sponsorship.  They strategically set up a table in a centrally located area during finals, in hopes that they could entice students by offering them a much needed study break during this busy time in the semester.  Their clever business plan worked and the bake sale ended up lasting for two entire weeks with a constant flow of baked goods arriving each day! The bake sale impressively raised a grand total of $277 and combined with donations from number of generous community members whom they reached out to, the Campus Corps team in total raised over $350 dollars! Furthermore, they contacted the local grocery store who agreed to provide a Christmas dinner for the family free of charge.

FPCC Campus Corps leader Katie Wise directed her team in this holiday initiative and was very impressed by the efforts of her team members as well as by the overwhelming generosity of the local community.  She says that she attributes the success to "a lot of different baking recipes, a lot of fun, and A LOT of sugar"! With two weeks of non-stop baking I am sure Katie is right, but what better way to sweeten one's holiday season than with treats for a good cause?

Welcome Krissy!

On behalf of the Campus Corps Community, I would like to give a warm welcome to Krissy Ferriter, the newest addition to the MTCC Network Office!  Just last week Krissy stepped into the position of Campus Corps Program Manager and has been quickly learning the ropes of what her new role will entail. It has been a pleasure getting to know Krissy this past week and I look forward to working with her for the remainder of my service year!!

Kristine Mazur Ferriter grew up in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, and received her B.S., summa cum laude, in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont. In June 2011, Krissy completed her M.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington, with a specialization in human dimensions of wildlife management. Krissy brings to the Montana Campus Corps experience as an AmeriCorps Field Educator with the Southeast Alaska Guidance Association, as well as two years of coordinating the International Conservation Volunteer Exchange program at the Great Basin Institute in Reno, Nevada. She enjoys reading, knitting, and yoga, as well as traveling, cooking, and taking advantage of local recreational opportunities with her husband. In her new role as Campus Corps Program Manager, Krissy looks forward to promoting civic responsibility within higher education, networking with diverse people throughout Montana, and helping to expand regional opportunities with Campus Corps.

SKC Students Step Up to Meet the Needs of their Community

The Campus Corps program at Salish Kootenai College has had a busy semester engaging in a wide variety of service initiatives to benefit their local community of Pablo, MT. As the campus does not have a Corps leader this year to serve as a resource for setting up projects and directing member efforts, students have impressively taken it upon themselves to step up as leaders working with their dedicated team of volunteers to best be of service to their community. The level of success that they have attained serves as a testament to the capable student members of SKC, as well as to the leadership provided by their devoted coordinator, Debbie Bell. 

Affiliated with the college's Nursing Department, the Campus Corps program at SKC primarily focuses on meeting the local community's need for improved health services, and with a team of members currently pursuing degrees in the nursing profession they have been able to utilize their specialized knowledge and skills in their service work.  Student volunteers have been a part of a number of valuable projects thus far this year, such as the YMCA Senior health fair during which volunteers met with local seniors and high school students to educate them about health issues as well as to share with them the mission of the Campus Corps program. Additionally, members served at the Pablo Thanksgiving Harvest Dinner where they helped carve a grand total of thirty turkeys to feed the local community members that attended the event! One member, Mark, shared that he especially enjoyed this project in that it succeeded in bringing together the local community and provided him an opportunity to interact with the local Native Kootenai population who maintain a strong cultural presence in the region.  Furthermore, the SKC Campus Corps team honored World AIDS Day on December 1st by arranging to have all members attend the basic training for becoming certified as an HIV/AIDS counselor.  Their team also participated in the campus wide event which aimed to raise community awareness about this epidemic as well as to promote HIV testing. 

With things wrapping up for the fall semester, the Campus Corps team is already looking ahead to spring and have set some pretty ambitious goals for the remainder of their service year.  Barrett Campbell, one of the students that has admirably stepped up as a leader amongst her peers, shared with me some of these initiatives which include helping organize a children's health fair, hosting a 5-K run to raise money and awareness for health promotion initiatives going on in Pablo, and advocating for healthier options in their campus cafeteria. Barrett shares that she has "been so proud to see the initiative that members have taken to go out into the community and use the skills that have been learned in the classroom for the ultimate purpose of working for the betterment of their local communities". 

The Campus Corps program is lucky to have such a self-motivated and dedicated group of members present on the SKC campus and we have been so impressed by the strides that they have made thus far in providing meaningful service to their local community.  I have personally been inspired by this passionate group of individuals and eagerly looking forward to seeing what they will accomplish in the following months!

Tis the Season to Serve

With the Holiday Season upon us, we all know that this is the time of the year when we should be thankful for all that we have as well as when we should go out of our way to be generous to those who may not be as fortunate. Campuses throughout the state are embodying this holiday spirit and student volunteers are taking part in a variety of service projects with the hope that all members of their community can have the opportunity to enjoy a happy holiday season this year. Check out what some the projects that our campuses will be taking part in over the next few weeks: 

Flathead Valley Community College - FVCC student volunteers have organized a Giving Tree program  for which they have set up two Christmas Tree  on campus that are decorated with ornaments, each contains the age, gender, and wish list for a local child in need. Members of the FVCC community are encouraged to take an ornament and purchase gifts for the child whose information is on the selected ornament. The project is in partnership with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) organization whose mission is to advocate for the best interests of children that have been victims of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.

UM - The Campus Corps program in Missoula has taken the lead in organizing a campus wide Adopt a Family & Adopt A Veteran initiative in which members of the UM community who choose to participate are assigned a family and/or veteran in need to purchase gifts for as well as a corresponding Holiday wish list for each.  This project is in partnership with the local Salvation Army as well as with the Valor House, which serves Veterans and is run by the Poverello Center.

MSU - Campus Corps program in Bozeman is recruiting students to lend a hand at the Big Brothers Big Sisters gift wrapping booth at the Gallatin Valley mall to partake in wrapping 

MSU-Billings - On Saturday December 10th student volunteers from MSU-Billings will be spending the afternoon at the Garfield Community Resource Center to help out with their Holiday Party to provide some Christmas Cheer to the local children of the South Side neighborhood. Volunteers will be lending a hand in arts and crafts, games, cookie decorating and more.

Fort Peck Community College - FPCC Campus Corps is sponsoring a family, providing them with gifts, a dinner, and an Alco gift card to cover various holiday expenses. In order to make this happen, the team of volunteers have been working hard to reach out to local businesses for donations, to host bake sales to raise funds, and to arrange for a Christmas dinner to be provided for the family. 

UM- Western :  Student volunteers at UM-W are participating in two different projects taking place in the Dillon community.  First, they will be serving at the local Armory's "Christmas At Our House" event for which they will help prepare dinner and then help with crafts and greeting during the actual event. Additionally, students will be working as ushers for the Southwest Montana Arts Council's performance of "The Nutcracker".


MSU-Northern - Student volunteers in Havre, MT will be offering their service to the Salvation Army, taking part in their annual Christmas Charity fundraiser. Volunteers will be working shifts as bell ringers outside local stores where they will collect money from shoppers as they enter and exit the venue.


Aaniiih Nakoda College - The campus community up in Harlem, MT will be participating in a Giving Tree activity that has been organized by members of the college's basketball team.  They have a tree set up with ornaments, each containing the information of a child enrolled in the Immersion school located on campus for whom they are expected to purchase gifts for.  Additionally, student volunteers will be contributing to the coat drive which has been organized by Phi Theta Kappa this holiday season. 

Alex Black - Leader of the Bobcats

This week's featured Campus Corps leader is Montana State's very own Alex Black.  Alex decided that four years at MSU was just not enough and after graduating in May of 2011made the decision to stick around Bozeman's beautiful university and spend her fifth year on campus rallying students to server their community as the Campus Corps leader. If you are a resident of Bozeman or the surrounding area, there is a good chance that you have heard a lot about Alex lately or at least about the wildly successful "Can the Griz" food drive that she spearheaded. In this year's competition the Cats crushed UM's Grizzlies raising a record 58,000 lbs. of food for their local food bank!  Much of this success can be attributed to Alex's efforts, as she worked diligently all fall to prepare for the big event and successfully implemented many new innovative ways to expand the drive.

Alex is originally from Idaho Falls, ID and if you ask her about how she feels about living in Montana, she will answer you with a long list of things that she loves about the state that she now calls home. Most of all she is thrilled to live in a town that offers an overwhelming number of outdoor recreation activities nearby, providing her plenty of opportunities to ski, bike, camp, and hike whenever she's not busy with her duties as a leader.

Having studied graphic design at MSU, Alex hopes to pursue a career in this field while also incorporating her love of working with the youth population.  Alex envisions these two passions coming together in her career aspirations to one day be a freelance graphic designer primarily focusing on children's books and youth illustrated magazines. Alex is indeed a Bobcat through and through and the impressive amount of service she has done for the Bozeman area attests to how much she truly cares about her local community, which is so lucky to have her!

Service Saturdays are a Hit on Montana Campuses!

This semester Service Saturday programs seem to be popping up at more and more of our campuses throughout the state and with very good reason. What better way for college student to spend their weekend  than by taking advantage of an opportunity to get off campus and into their local communities with the goal of making a positive difference and helping meet some of the most pressing needs in their areas?  Furthermore, these events provide an opportunity for participants to meet a variety of new people, both other students and community members, while promising that all will have a lot of fun in the process!

Service Saturdays welcome all students, faculty, and staff to partake in various one-time service projects throughout the year, with the frequency at which they occur varying by campus. For instance, MSU & MSU-Billings both host one Service Saturday a month at which they offer a few different projects to choose from, while at UM's the program collaborates with just one site at a time and events occur on a  weekly basis.  This year projects have ranged from Habitat builds to spending time with seniors at an assisted living home to re-painting Bozeman's iconic "M" after it had been defaced by graffiti.

Shanna Ungate, Campus Corps leader at UM, has expressed how pleased she is with the success of Service Saturdays and how well they have really caught on amongst the campus community. She is happy to report that so far this year, every Service Saturday has been well attended and that the weekly email containing upcoming events now has a distribution list of over 400 students who have expressed interest in the program! She shares; "I think that Service Saturdays are a great in that they are a simple way for any student to get involved in service. And for those who are interested in the Campus Corps program, it allows them to get a taste of the various Missoula nonprofits which can then have an influence on which they decide to choose as their placement site." It certainly serves as a testament to the character of Montana students of higher education that they are increasingly choosing to spend their day off of class engaging in service work, and communities across the state are so grateful that they do!

Recognizing Student Athletes for Contributions Made Off of the Playing Field

Between a full class schedule, daily practices, and frequent out of town games, college athletes often find themselves spread thin when trying to fit everything into their busy schedules. It is certainly an impressive feat when they find time to partake in other extracurricular activities and their dedication to such additional commitments is certainly emphasized when they do. Each year the Montana Campus Compact makes a point to recognize four student athletes who, despite their busy practice schedules, have admirably still found time to be of service to their communities.

Announced during the always climactic annual MSU Cats vs. UM Griz football game, the Athletes in Service Awards recognize four such athletes who have demonstrated a commitment to serving their communities and in doing so have left a legacy inspiring others to do the same. We are proud to announce the 2011 recipients of the Montana Athletes in Service Award, who have been carefully selected by the Montana Campus Compact Board of Directors:

      Montana State University

Name: Geoff Irwin
Year in School: Junior
Sport: MSU Alpine Skiing
Major: Business Finance

           

Name: Natasza Lorentz
Year in School: Junior
Sport: MSU Spirit Squad
Major: Cell Biology & Neuroscience

University of Montana

Name: Melissa Jenkins
Year in School: Senior
Sport: UM Track & Field
Major: Biology



Name: Alex Shaw
Year in School: Senior
Sport: UM Football
Major: Finance




 

Campus Corps Leader of the Week: Sean Cochrane

Introducing Sean Cochrane, Campus Corps leader at Montana Tech of the UM (M-Tech) located in beautiful Butte, MT. Sean boldly made the move to western Montana all the way from Jacksonville, Florida where he recently received his undergraduate degree at Florida State University. The early winter has been quite a shock to this southerner, but Sean surprisingly seems to be adjusting to the Montana weather with relative ease. In fact, he has even cited the cooler climate as one of the things he was most looking forward in relocating to the Northwest. Adapting to new places is something that Sean has plenty of experience with; having grown up with a father in the Navy, his family grew accustomed to moving around rather frequently and found many different places to call home.

Although Sean ended up in Butte mostly by chance, the town seems to be a perfect fit for him. Sean is by nature a history buff and has found himself lucky to be in what many would consider Montana's most historically significant city. Sean has enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about the rich history of the town that was once referred to as "The Richest Hill on Earth" due to its abundance of copper deposits that drew people from all over the country and beyond. Furthermore, with Irish in his blood Sean's favorite holiday has always been St. Patrick’s Day, and fittingly enough, Butte just so happens to be home to Montana's biggest St. Patty's Day celebration. There's the luck of the Irish for you!

In his undergraduate studies Sean majored in History and plans to further his education next year by attending Law School at the University of Virginia.  As you can probably guess from the photo above of Sean and his sister on the Dallas Cowboy's field, Sean is a big sports fan. During football season you can find him rooting for the Dallas Cowboys and in college ball for his alma mater, the Florida State Seminoles.

UM-Western Goes Green for America Recycles Day

Campus Corps members serving in Dillon, MT rallied their campus and nearby community on Tuesday November 15th to celebrate of America Recycles Day.  The team worked to inform students about the campus' recycling options and utilized many creative methods to achieve this including visiting classes and dumpster diving the room's garbage can from which participants sorted out the recyclable waste that had been wrongfully placed in the trash.  Furthermore, members stationed themselves in the highly trafficked pathways in between classes to get the word out while giving away free pins and bookmarks.

The day of events continued with the plastic and can crushing competition during which students were challenged to see who could crush the most recyclables in a set amount of time, and in doing so prepared the items to begin the recycling process.  At 6pm UM-W students, faculty, staff, as well as members of the Dillon community flocked to campus to view the screening of "Bag It": a documentary on the harmful effects that plastic bags have upon the environment.  Before beginning the film, the audience had the opportunity hear from a Patagonia representatives who demonstrated how their company reuses plastic bags to make material for their clothing (as was used to make the shirt Cheyanne is wearing in the photo above!!).

The success of the day long event serves as a tribute to the effectiveness of the campus's recent efforts both to become more sustainable and to raise the community's awareness of important environmental issues.  Just since the beginning of this school year, the campus has seen major advances in these initiatives and such can be attributed to the group of passionate and dedicated volunteers devoted to the cause!

Campus Corps member Mandy created a dress out of 500 plastic bags - the number of bags an average person uses over the course of one year. Check it out!

Campus Corps Members to Honor Veterans in Bozeman

In honor of the national Veteran's Day holiday, the newly established Student Veteran's Club on the campus of MSU will be hosting several events throughout the Bozeman community to honor the men and women that have served in our country's armed forces. MSU's campus will be hosting an all day ceremony during which volunteers will read aloud the names of more than 6,200 veterans whose lives have been lost in the wars in Afganistan and Iraq since 2001.  The event is part of a larger nationwide Remembrance Day National Roll Call in which 182 colleges from all 50 states are taking part.

Campus Corps leaders T.C. Knutson and Sean Cochrane , from MSU-GF and M-Tech respectively, will be making the trip out to Bozeman to take part in the event. The ceremony will be taking place from 9am to 5pm in the Leigh Lounge in the Strand Union Building on MSU's campus. The roll call will conclude at 4pm with a remembrance ceremony during which the audience will hear from keynote speaker U.S. Senator Jon Testor.

To learn more about the event and how you can be involved Click Here.  And for all those who plan to attend, be sure to stop by to say hello to Sean and T.C. who will be stationed at the AmeriCorps table.

Warm Coats for Winter

Much to my personal dismay, they are predicting that the state of Montana is gearing up for yet another harsh winter this year.  With cold fronts already having moved into many parts of the state, it seems that they are here to stay leaving community members scrambling to adequately prepare for what's in store.  For some Montana residents this can be quite a challenge, as the necessity of a warm winter coat is often an investment that financially unstable citizens are unable to make. In response to this pressing community need our Campus Corps programs have responded by organizing local coat drives to collect new and gently used coats to be distributed to those in need.  Specifically, Campus Corps programs at Rocky Mountain College, Fort Peck Community College, & Stone Child College have rallied their student bodies as well as their neighboring communities to improve the well being of their communities one warm coat at a time.

If you would like to learn more about these initiatives, contact Campus Corps leaders Jill Washburn (campuscorps@rocky.edu) at Rocky Mountain College, Katie Wise (kwise@fpcc.edu) at Fort Peck Community College, or Michael Yegerlehner myegerlehner@stonechild.edu at Stone Child College.  Furthermore, you can visit onewarmcoat.org to learn how to start your own coat drive!

New Kid on the Block - Carson Booth!

The newest addition to the 2011-2012 team of Campus Corps leaders, Carson Booth has already made great strides in his role as leader at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, MT.  Born and raised in the nearby town of Sommers, MT Carson finds himself right at home in the Flathead Valley.  He is a true Montana native in that he enjoys spending his free time engaging in activities like hiking, fishing, hunting, and working on his truck.  He also enjoys gardening and skiing in the nearby mountains come winter.

Carson attended Whitman College located in Walla Walla, Washington where he studied Political Theory & Philosophy.  He has since switched gears and plans to pursue a degree in Architecture and in the future sees himself working to promote healthy civic and community life through his practice of both architecture and landscape architecture.

While enrolled as a student at Whitman, Carson illustrated his ability to "get things done" even when approached with some pretty discouraging challenges along the way. Specifically, Carson and a fellow student   managed to successfully set up a program on campus that distributed leftover food from the dining halls to local shelters.  Although they unexpectedly encountered many legal regulations in place that inhibited progress in such efforts, their continued dedication and hard work paid off and the program was a great success, providing meals to hundreds of hungry people living in the Walla Walla Valley. It is evident that Carson has brought this same admirable work ethic and credible leadership skills to the work that he is involved in at FVCC. He has already set some ambitious goals for his program this year and brings to the table many new and creative ideas to guide him in reaching them.  Carson is committed to doing his best as a Campus Corps leader to meet his community's needs, and the Flathead Valley is so lucky to have him!

Can the Cats/Griz Food Drive: Let the Games Begin!

November 5th marks the official start date of the 12th annual "Can the Cats/Griz" food drive: an off-field competition between UM and MSU to see which campus can collect the most food donations for their local food banks.  Campuses work with their local communities to get as many people as possible to donate non-perishable food items in addition to monetary donations, which they are accepting for the first time this year.


The drive culminates with the November 19th match-up between the MSU Bobcats and the UM Grizzlies, as the winning school is announced during halftime.  Last year's competition was a close one and the Cats just managed to come out on top at 27,000 pounds of non perishable foods with both campuses collectively gathering more than 40,000 pounds of food!!  While UM has made it clear that they are hungry for a win this year, MSU promises to provide some tough competition and have ambitiously set their goal at 32,000 pounds of food! Good luck to both campuses - win or lose you will succeed in making huge strides in your community's efforts to eliminate hunger!


Contributions of non-perishable food items can be dropped off at several locations throughout the Missoula community (for the Griz - of course) as well as various sites within the Bozeman area in support of the Cats. Furthermore, both efforts are collecting monetary donations which will be converted to pounds at a rate of $1.60 equaling one pound of food. For further information, contact Campus Corps leaders Alex Black (MSU) at teamleader@montana.edu or Shanna Ungate (UM) at shanna.ungate@mso.umt.edu.

Make A Difference Day Featured Event: Glendive's Haunted Hallow

Campus Corps volunteers from Dawson Community College, located in Glendive, MT decided to take full advantage of the most recent National Service Day's proximity to the Halloween holiday by constructing a "Haunted Hollow" for their Make a Difference Day service project.   There was more to the event than just spooking the local community, however, (although I am sure there was a lot of that too!) as all of the proceeds from the event were donated to the local Relay for Life: one of the flagship fundraisers for the American Cancer Society.

About 20 volunteers came out to help and together they constructed several outdoor custom built scenes, each of which promised to instill fear into anyone that dared to pass through. Their many hours of hard work paid off, and the event attracted a large number of visitors to keep them busy with their scare tactics all day long. Raising an impressive $3,000 for a good cause, Glendive's Haunted Hollow was a great success and DCC’s Corps members have done a fine job of illustrating how we can make a difference in our communities while having a lot of fun in the process!

Meet Michael : Stone Child College's "Pioneer Leader"

      I think it's safe to say that Michael "the Yellow Dart" Yegerlehner is a Campus Corps "pioneer leader".  Michael has taken on the role of leading a brand new Campus Corps program at the Montana Campus Compact's newest addition: Stone Child College.  Having relocated to Box Elder, MT on the Rocky Boy reservation all the way from his hometown of Palmyra Missouri, Michael arrived fully energized (which can partially be attributed to his tendency to sometimes overdo his coffee consumption) and ready to hit the ground running!  Faced with what many would consider the daunting challenge of establishing a new program from the ground up, Michael was not at all phased by the task at hand, and enthusiastically approached the job ready to put into action his many creative ideas as to how to engage the local community in Campus Corps.  His progress and ability to work effectively was in no way hindered by the fact that he was without an office for the first few weeks on the job, and he impressed us all with his ability to "set up shop" wherever he found space at a moment's notice.  In getting to know Michael, I have come to admire

his unfaltering optimism and "can do" attitude.

 

             In addition to his role as Stone Child College's Corps leader, Michael is also taking the lead role in a partnership with non-profit organization Opportunity Link to initiate a program on the reservation that will provide financial literacy and tax preparation training to residents of the community.  This program's initial success can be attributed to Michael's creativity and hard work.

           When he's not running around the local community setting up new partnerships and promoting Campus Corps, Michael enjoys reading a variety of literature as well as utilizing his artistic talent in painting and drawing. He has been involved in youth ministry and has found this work especially rewarding.  In the future Michael hopes to be a published author and artist in addition to teaching at the high school level and continuing his involvement in youth ministry. Certainly an ambitious career path, but I am more than confident that Michael will be successful at whatever he puts his mind to!

         

Make A Difference Day 2011

Taking place every year on the 4th Saturday of October, National Make A Difference Day rallies Americans to take action to serve their communities and to make a positive change in the world. Sponsored by USA WEEKEND & the HandsOn Network this annual event engages millions of people throughout the nation in meaningful community service. Check out the events that our Campus Corps programs throughout the state have organized to see how you too can be a part of Make A Difference Day 2011!

Aaniih Nakoda College (Harlem, MT/Fort Belknap Reservation)

Contact: Alison Graham - agraham@mail.fbcc.edu (406-353-2607)

When: October 24th, 2011

Where: Head Start, Fort Belknap Agency
Event: In honor of National Art & Humanities month and Make a Difference Day members of the Early Educations program, Campus Corps, and other volunteers will be partnering with the local Head Start Program. Specifically, participants will be assigned classrooms for which they will read a book, plan an activity around the book, and give the students a tour of the library.

When: October 26th, 2011 Where: Head Start, Fort Belknap Agency
Event: Volunteers will be working with Head Start students to paint pumpkins in celebration of Halloween. Pumpkins have been donated by the local USDA extension.

Dawson Community College (Glendive, MT)

Contact: Jacob Kilgore - volunteer@dawson.edu (406-377-9460)

When: October 22nd, 2011

Where:Cow Patty Links, Glendive, MT

Event: Campus Corps volunteers will be constructing a "Haunted Hollow": an outdoor haunted house with several different "scenes" that participants can walk through and can expect to be spooked when they do. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the American Cancer Society's local Relay For Life Event.

Flathead Valley Community College (Kalispell, MT)

Contact: Carson Booth - campuscorps@fvcc.edu (406-756-3372)

When: October 22nd, 2011

Where: the old Gateway West Mall site in Kalispell, MT

Event: Flathead Food Bank and Second Helpings are located within the old Gateway West Mall in Kalispell.  Both organizations have worked with the current mall owners, Teletech inc, to lease space out to service, volunteer, and NGO organizations within the valley. However, having sat unused for close to 15 years, the lease sites need cleaning, new paint, lighting, and other light maintenance work. Flathead Food Bank and Second Helpings are coordinating volunteers

in conjunction with the FVCC service office to help with renovations so agencies can move into the building before the end of the year.

Fort Peck Community College (Poplar, MT & Wolf Point, MT)

Contact:Katie Wise - kwise@fpcc.edu (406)768-6333

When: October 22nd, 2011

Where The Lord's Table; Wolf Point, MT

Event: Campus Corps volunteers from Fort Peck Community College will be organizing a coat drive to better equip the community for the quickly approaching cold Montana winter. They will be setting up donation locations where community members can drop off new and gently used winter coats from October 14 through the 22nd, at which date the group of volunteers will be collecting, sorting through, and delivering all of the coats to local assistance program, The Lord’s Table.

MSU (Bozeman, MT)
Contact: Alexandra Black - teamleader@montana.edu (406-994-6902)
When:October 18th, 2011 (5:00pm-7:00pm)
Where: Gallatin Valley Foodbank Event: Volunteers will be helping to package and distribute food boxes for the Senior Lunch Program.

When: October 21st, 2011
Where: The Bozeman Bowl (414 East Babcock St)
Event: Volunteers from MSU will be lending a hand at the annual "Bowl for Kid's Sake" fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

MSU- Billings & Rocky Mountain College
Contact: Hazel Todd – hazel.todd@msubillings.edu (406-896-5815) & Jill Washburn – jill.washburn@rocky.edu (406-238-7394)
When: October 22nd (9:00am-12:00pm)
Where: 4715 Rebecca's Place
Event: Volunteers from both Rocky Mountain College and MSU-Billings will be lending a hand at the Habitat for Humanity build hosted by Montana Conservation Corps. The collaborative group of AmeriCorps members will be working to  landscape the residence located at 4715 Rebecca’s Place in Billings. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers and all over the age of 14 are welcome to participate.

MSU-Great Falls (Great Falls, MT)
Contact: T.C. Knutson – campuscorps@msugf.edu (406-771-4324)
When: October 22nd, 2011 (shift 1 at 9:00am; shift 2 at 12:30pm)
Where: shift 1 will meet at 1000 3rd Ave NW; shift 2 will meet at 1701 21st Ave.
Event: Campus Corps volunteers from MSU-GF will be partnering with local non profit organization, NeighborWorks to plant trees throughout the community. The event will take place rain or shine, so be sure to dress appropriately for the weather. Water, snacks, & pizza will be 
provided for all volunteers.

Montana Tech of the UM (Butte, MT)
Contact: Sean Cochrane - scochrane@mtech.edu (406-496-4692)
When: October 22nd, 2011 (10:00am-1:00pm)
Where:Butte Rescue Mission; volunteers will meet at their site on East 2nd St.
Event: Campus Corps volunteers from M-Tech will be lending a hand to the Butte Rescue Mission which is in desperate need of additional housing with the winter months quickly approaching. To meet this need they purchased a two-story dormitory style building that needs to be cleaned up.  Volunteers will be sweeping out and mopping the floors as well as putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls.


When: October 22nd,2011 (8:15am-11:00am)
Where: Juvenile Prison; volunteers will meet at the M-Tech Campus Motor Pool
Event: Volunteers will be working with inmates at the local Juvenile Prison

Stone Child College (Box Elder, MT / Rocky Boy Reservation)
Contact: Michael Yegerlehner - myegerlehner@stonechild.edu (573-822-6171)
When: October 20th, 26th, &27th (8:00am-10:00am)
Where: Kennewash Hall Foyer, Stone Child College
Event: Student volunteers will be organizing a coat drive for both adults and children in need that live in the local community.

University Of Montana (Missoula, MT)
Contact: Shanna Ungate – shanna.ungate@mso.umt.edu (406-243-5106)
When: October 15th, 2011 (12:30pm-4:30pm)
Where: PEAS Farm (3010 Duncan Dr.)
Event: The Campus Corps group at UM will be collaborating with local non-profit organization Garden City Harvest; specifically, they will be volunteering at their annual Fall Harvest Festival which takes place at the PEAS farm.  


University of Montana - Northern (Havre, MT)
Contact: Grace Milanowski - campuscorps@msun.edu (406-265-3577)
When:October 22nd, 2011
Where:Salvation Army of Havre, MT
Event: Volunteers will be helping out with some general cleaning, raking, shredding papers: important things that the staff does not have time to do!


When: October 29th, 2011
Where: Head Start of Havre, MT Event: Volunteers will be lending a hand with some much needed playground maintenance: painting windows in play areas, raking up and redistributing wood-chips under play areas, replacing sand in the sand box, and repainting toy sheds.


University of Montana - Western (Dillon, MT) 
Contact: Cheyanne Marcy – campuscorps@umwestern.edu (406-683-7202)
When: October 8th, 2011
Where: Virginia City town park
Event: Campus Corps volunteers from UM-Western scheduled their Make a Difference Day event a few weeks prior to the official date, as their project needed to be completed before the weather got too cold.  On Saturday October 8th, the group traveled to Virginia City where they spent a full day taking part in the town’s city park clean up/weatherization/ restoration project.  Specifically, they primed & painted the city bathroom building, stained picnic tables, and trimmed the trees and shrubs surrounding the broom ball/ice-skating rink. The Virginia City community was very grateful for all of their hard work and for all of the improvements that they made happen.

When:October 21st & 22nd, 2011
Where: Bannack, MT
Event: On October 21st & 22nd, volunteers from UM-W will be travelling to the historic ghost town of Bannack, MT to light the way for the town’s annual historic ghost walk.

2011 Building Engaged Citizens Conference : The Culture of Service

The Building Engaged Citizens Conference (BEC) is an annual training event for individuals affiliated with the Montana Campus Compact and its programs.  This year, thanks in part to Campus Compact and the Jenzabar Foundation, BEC has been expanded to include tribal campuses from around the country, providing participants sessions on the "culture of service".  Students and Service members have the opportunity to develop leadership skills, cultural awareness, and undergo skills training.

This year’s conference will take place in Billings, with lodging at the Holiday Inn Grand Montana and training activities hosted by MSU-Billings College of Technology, a Campus Compact member institution.  This year's conference promises to be a worthwhile experience for all who attend. Not only will you gain valuable knowledge and skills to better equip you to serve your communities, but it also provides an opportunity to meet and make connections with other AmeriCorps members serving throughout the state. Register now at www.regonline.com/BEC2011

Featured Leader : Katie Wise!

Meet Katie Wise, Campus Corps leader at Fort Peck Community College located in Poplar, MT on the Fort Peck reservation.  Born and raised in Denver, Colorado Katie headed east to attend Kalamazoo College located in Michigan where she fostered her natural creative juices by pursuing a degree in English with a focus in creative writing.  Her years spent at college must have suited her well, as she now aspires to pursue a career in Higher Education, specifically as an English professor.  When she's not voraciously reading novels or writing her own stories,you can likely find Katie using her creative talent in a variety of crafts.  Not only is she an excellent knitter and sewer, she has just has recently taken up the art of beading as well.  And don't be surprised to find her absorbed in an old movie while working on her many projects -  she loves old films and the Turner Classics are hands down her favorite!  Certainly a woman of many interests, I can only provide you with a mere glimpse of the amazing individual that is Katie Wise, so on that note I encourage you to get to know her yourself!

Campus Corps Hits the Road

From our home base in beautiful Missoula, the Campus Corps Network Office works hard to support our campuses widespread across the state in the great work that they do for their communities.  As much as modern technology has enabled us to effectively serve campuses from afar, there's really nothing like the real thing. Lucky for us, the Campus Corps staff get the chance to see firsthand the great things that you have going on at your campuses during our site visits, which take place at a couple of points throughout the year.

As Senior Leader, it has been especially exciting for me to see my leaders "in their element" and I continue to find myself exceedingly impressed by the amazing work that they do to build their programs, to support their members, and ultimately to serve their local communities.  Furthermore, I am exhilarated by the fact that they have made such remarkable strides so early on in the year. At this rate there is no telling what great things will transpire come spring!


Next stop: the Hi-Line. That's right, tomorrow I will be making my way up to Havre, MT and can't wait to see what Corps Leaders Michael, Grace, Alison, and their Corps members are up to! 

Leader Profile : Cheyanne Marcy -UM-Western

            Meet Cheyanne, Campus Corps leader at the University of Montana -Western, her alma mater whrere she received a B.S. in Business Administration.  Cheyanne is a Montana native and was raised in Hamilton, MT; but, driven by her passion for the great outdoors and specifically for snowboarding, she hopes to one day reside in the great frontier state of Alaska.  Her dedication to creating opportunities to foster healthier futures for both the young and old is something that she intends to incorporate into her future career endeavors, and this focus area has already led her to become involved in several Diabetes prevention efforts.

            Cheyanne has already impressed us with her leadership skills having organized an entire WEEK of events in support of the 9/11 National Day of Service, including a community wide collection of recyclable plastics that yielded over 1600 lbs of plastic!  Not only has she gone above and beyond her call to serve, but she has done it all with a huge smile on her face - and if you have had the opportunity to meet Cheyanne then you know exactly what I am referring to!

9/11 National Day of Service

With the remembrance of the national tragedy that took place on September 11th ten years ago comes our first AmeriCorps National Service Day of the year.  What better way to honor those lives lost than to join together in solidarity with our neighbors to be of service to our communities?  The hard work of our Corps leaders is reflected in the impressive number of Campus Corps-supported service projects taking place throughout the state. If you haven't signed up yet, it's not too late to get involved. Contact your nearby Corps leader to see how you can participate in this year's 9/11 national Day of Service!

MSU-Billings 

Contact: Hazel Todd – hazel.todd@msubillings.edu (406-896-5815)

Event: 9/11 Memorial Dedication Ceremony

Where: The West end of the MSUB College of Technology's campus

When: September 11th, 2011   (2:00pm)

To learn more about the event, visit http://www.msubillings.edu/911memorial/

Rocky Mountain College (Billings, MT)

Contact: Contact: Jill Washburn – jill.washburn@rocky.edu (406-238-7394)

Event: Disaster Relief in Roundup, MT
Where: Roundup, MT
When: August 27th, 2011 (8:00am-12:00pm)

Event: United Way Day of Caring at Rocky Mountain College: Chapel Clean-Up & Restoration
Where: Losekamp Hall, Rocky Mountain Campus
When: September 14th, 2011 (1:00pm)

Montana Tech (Butte, MT)

Contact: : Sean Cochrane – scochrane@mtech.edu (406-496-4692)

Event: Disaster Preparedness Fair

Where: Butte's Stodden Park

When: September 11th, 2011

MSU - Western (Dillon, MT)

Contact: Cheyanne Marcy – campuscorps@umwestern.edu (406-683-7202)

Event: Harvest of Campus Community Garden and delivery of food to local food bank

Where: MUS-N campus/local food bank

When: September 6^th, 2011 (harvesting); September 7^th, 2011 (Delivery of food)

Event: Guest Speaker Leaf Magnuson followed by outdoor Plastic Awareness Session

Where: MSUN campus

When: September 8^th, 2011

Event: City wide collection of recyclable plastics

When: September 10th, 2011

Where: Dillon, MT - contact Cheyanne for further details

Dawson Community College (Glendive, MT)

Contact: Jacob Kilgore – volunteer@dawson.edu (406-377-9460)

Event: Children's activities for Glendive's Historic Bell St. Bridge Celebration

When: September 11th, 2011

Where: Eyer Park, Glendive MT

Event: Supplies Distribution to Veterans

When: September 17th, 2011

Where: Eastern Montana Showdown (Richard County Fairgrounds) - Sydney, MT

MSU - Great Falls (Great Falls – MT)

Contact: TC Knutson – campuscorps@msugf.edu (406-771-4324)

Event: Residence Clean-up and decoration in collaboration with NeighborWorks

When: September 10th, 2011 (9:00am-12:00pm)
Where: 1701 21^st Ave S

MSU- Northern (Havre, MT)

Contact: Grace Milanowski – campuscorps@msun.edu (406-265-3577)

Event:  City Cleanup & Recycle Drive
When: September 10th, 2011 9:00 - 12:00pm
Where: Corner of 5th Ave & 1st St. , Havre, MT

Event: Disaster Preparedness workshop

When: September 12th, 2011 4:00pm-6:00pm

Where: Boys & Girls Club of Havre

Event: Serving Breakfast to Honor Emergency Personnel

When: September 11th, 2011 9:00am

Where: Van Orsdel United Methodist Church

Stone Child Community College (Box Elder, MT/ Rocky Boy Reservation)

in collaboration with Fort Belknap College & MSU-Northern

Contact : MIchael Yegerlehner - myegerlehner@stonechild.edu

Event: Community Trash Clean Up

When: Spetember 8th, 2011 (5:00-6:30pm)

Where: Kennewash Hall, Stone Child College, 824 Upper Box Elder Rd

Flathead Valley Community College (Kalispell, MT)

Contact: Aubrey DeLone -  campuscorps@fvcc.edu (406-756-3372)

Event: Habitat for Humanity build

When: September 10th (9:00am-4:00pm)

Where: Contact Aubrey for location details

University of Montana (Missoula, MT)

Contact: Shanna Ungate – shanna.ungate@mso.umt.edu (406-243-5106)

Event: Toiletry Drive with Women's Opportunity & Resource Development

When: September 9th (3:00-7:00pm)

Where: Orange Street Food Farm (701 South Orange St.)

MSU - Bozeman

Contact: Alexandra Black - teamleader@montana.edu (406-994-6902)

Event: Interfaith Memorial Service with food drive

When: September 11th, 2011 (2:30pm)

Where: First Presbyterian Church (26 W Babcock St.)