Six students from NTCC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa presented a workshop on “Volunteerism” at the District III meeting held at Paris Junior College February 16. Tonya Hammonds, Karla Fuentes, Lilly Haack, Olivia Griffin, Jacob Lambie, and Courtney Baldwin presented to representatives from several local colleges throughout the District.
The presentation began with Tonya sharing some of the statistics and information from her article in the Eagle about how Texans do not volunteer as much as in other states and encouraged attendees to get more involved in their college and community. Tonya shared stories of her involvement with the Social Work Club and the Morris County Collaborative.
Karla shared information about local volunteer service opportunities and her experiences with local food banks. Lilly shared her motivation for founding the Environmental Club on campus and some of the club members’ discussion about how to help serve the area. Olivia and Jacob shared the reasons behind the “More Alike Than Different” (MATD) organization they founded on campus and what those club members were doing to meet the needs of others.
Courtney discussed her past involvement with city and federal agencies and volunteer work on behalf of victims of Sex Trafficking, and the volunteer work she did that had led to her receiving the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. service award. The workshop concluded with attendees engaging in an interactive activity to explore needs on their campus and in their community and how they could help meet those needs.
The resultant discussion generated significant enthusiasm and excitement. The presentation went so well that as a result the same group has been asked to present at the Regional Student Government Association meeting, which made changes to their agenda in order to accommodate the request. They will be doing an encore presentation, by demand, at the Regional SGA meeting on Friday February 23.
