Happy holidays from lwc

LWC Junior Emma Looney hands out candy during Safe Halloween. (Photo courtesy of Lindsey Wilson College Public Relations)

When the holidays come around, they come around fast. From the fun of Halloween to the joy of Christmas, Lindsey Wilson College reaches out to the City of Columbia to make sure it is the “most wonderful time of the year” for everyone in the small town.

As early as Halloween, LWC organizations begin their community outreach. Halloween is supposed to be spooky for children, not a nightmare for parents. Lindsey Wilson College’s Residence Life department hosts Safe Halloween on the Tuesday of Halloween Week to give the children of Columbia a trick-or-treating experience parents can trust. In the Fall of 2017, 750 guests trick-or-treated on LWC’s campus.

Employees of Residence Life spent up to 5 hours a night for a week before Halloween decorating the dorms with themes such as Alice in Wonderland and Star Wars. LWC students dress up as characters children will recognize to make the experience more immersive. Residence Director Kate Durham chose to decorate her building, Keefe Hall, as a circus. Dressed as a clown, she handed out candy to countless students.

As an Adair County native, Durham has seen how Safe Halloween affects the community from both sides of the campus lines.

“A lot of the students who dressed up for Safe Halloween also work in the school system or volunteer out in the community where local kids can get to know them. It’s interesting for those kids to get to see where the college kids get to live”, said Durham.

By the end of Halloween night, Residence Life had given away nearly 144 gallons of candy.

For Lindsey Wilson’s many organizations, the giving continues into Thanksgiving. In 2016, Natalie Vickous, coordinator of the LWC Bonner Program, and then-junior Abby Biddle took on a project to fight hunger in Adair County. With a poverty rate of 26.1%, Adair County is at a high risk for food insecurity. The Campus Kitchen project collects food from Lindsey Wilson College’s cafeteria and local restaurants and turns it into a hot meal that is delivered to a community member.

Biddle understands the importance of her work. She often delivers to people who are unable to get out of their house to make it to the grocery. When visiting one elderly woman in the community, Biddle found that the meal she was delivering was the only food in this household.

“I couldn’t help but cry,” said Biddle. “[This experience] really helped affirm that we are filling a need for a population that often gets overlooked."

No one will be overlooked on Campus Kitchen’s watch. Each year, the organization hosts Turkeypalooza to raise money for Thanksgiving meals for local families. This year, Campus Kitchen partnered with IGA and offices on the LWC campus to serve Thanksgiving meals to 24 different families in the community. The organization raised enough money to cover Christmas meals as well.

The Bonner program has also been providing coats for children in the community each winter for the past several years. The Coats for Kids initiative was started in 2011 by then-student Brooke Harmon, a Bonner whose mother worked for Adair County Head Start. Harmon witnesses several children coming into school on winter mornings without a coat on. This inspired her to make sure these kids would stay warm all winter. On December 7, the Bonner program was able to donate 71 coats to every child in Head Start thanks to contributions from students at LWC and citizens of Adair County.

The citizens of Adair County aren’t only givers during the holidays, though. According to Sabine Eastham, director of the Lindsey Wilson College International Student Program (ISP), LWC and Adair County natives have a year-round “give and take”. Columbia embraces the international students, so the students give back to Columbia.

Eastham pairs her international students with “host families” who provide the students with a welcoming home if they can’t make it back to their country for the holidays. Many host families are retirees or homeschooling families, so these students make an exciting addition.

“What we are doing is connecting people and creating joy,” said Eastham.

Joy is a global concept that brings people together to enact change. During the holidays, ISP unified the international community and domestic students, faculty, and staff to help the local community combat food insecurity.

Each year, ISP hosts “Carolling for Cans” to collect food to donate to Campus Kitchen and Joy Ministries. The group visited the offices on LWC’s campus, singing carols in various languages.

“These songs are global”, said Eastham. The music reminds people of peace and family, no matter where they hail from.

That connectedness is what LWC strives for with the Adair County community. This connection is definitely visible during the Holloway Wellness Center Christmas Carnival, which is held in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas in Columbia.

The whole Carnival is organized by Dr. Ginny Dilworth’s event planning class, giving these students real world experience as they pursue their Recreation, Tourism, and Sports Management degrees. During this event, local vendors and churches host crafts and activities free to Adair County families. LWC education majors read stories for children. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Claus are the main attraction, drawing in around 600 guests for photos and visits.

According to Abe Cross, the director of the Wellness Center, knows this is something community members look forward to. “I’m thankful that my own kids get to be there. I’m glad they’re getting to grow up in the Lindsey culture”, he said. “This is an intimate community and we have an intimate little college. It is nice to have a conduit between the two”.

A positive relationship between the college and the community is what LWC strives for during the holidays and all year round. As LWC gives to the community, the local government, schools and business continuously pour into Lindsey’s campus. As Dean Adams, Vice President for Student Services, puts it, “A high tide raises all boats." He added, “Improving the community improves the college.”