{"id":1572,"date":"2010-11-04T11:27:32","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T16:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2010-11-05T11:09:08","modified_gmt":"2010-11-05T16:09:08","slug":"faculty-peace-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2010\/faculty-peace-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty service project benefits local food pantry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left to right: Merilyn Jones, Dot Pennington, Dr. Chrisanne Christensen , Jennifer Rowsam and Dr. Brittney Schrick are pictured with one month\u2019s worth of canned goods collected by students in behavior and social science classes. For more than two years, the department has participated in a monthly food drive to help As...bury Methodist Church\u2019s food pantry, Body and Soul Cupboard. Jones and Pennington oversee the pantry.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the past two years, Dr. Chrisanne Christensen, associate professor of psychology at Southern Arkansas University, and other faculty in the department have put community service into action as an optional part of the curriculum.<\/p>\n

Though the faculty of the department are involved in many community-related projects, one that is close to their heart is the monthly food drive to benefit Asbury Methodist Church\u2019s food pantry, Body and Soul Cupboard. Though it continues year round, the food drive falls into the limelight particularly during the holiday season, when the need for food increases.<\/p>\n

In 2008, nearly 450,000 Arkansans struggled to put food on the table, according to the most recently available facts from Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.<\/p>\n

Asbury\u2019s Body and Soul Cupboard has been in action providing food to those in need in the community since 2002.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanksgiving hits us really hard,\u201d said Merilyn Jones, who along with Dot Pennington, oversees the Asbury food pantry. \u201cNovember and December are our heaviest months. We normally give out food to 200-250 families.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Christensen, the church provides a list of needs each month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis month (October) they asked for canned fruit and pumpkin,\u201d said Christensen, pointing to a board in the hallway across from her Peace Hall office where the needs are posted. \u201cOther months, it\u2019s vegetables, or whatever they need. We try to collect whatever we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each month, students in behavioral and social science classes at SAU voluntarily bring canned items to class.<\/p>\n

Some instructors, like Jennifer Rowsam, adjunct professor and director of advising, give participating students bonus points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do it – not because I don\u2019t think they would still bring food \u2013 but, the small bonus gives them a little incentive to remember it,\u201c she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just enrolled students that are involved, Christensen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of students who haven\u2019t been students for years, who still come by and see what they can bring,\u201d she said. \u201cAnother group finds out what we need, then pools their money and provides us with cases of whatever it is. It\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Jones and Pennington, the Asbury pantry distributes food twice a month on the second and fourth Thursday.<\/p>\n

Christensen estimated this month\u2019s drive brought in 525 cans of food, which were handed over to the pantry on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

On average, the department collects 150 to 250 cans of food, but according to Jones, there has been a slight increase that she believes is tied to a higher enrollment at SAU.<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in participating in the drive can drop items off at Asbury Methodist Church at the intersection of East University and Pearce Street or can stop by Christensen\u2019s office on the first floor in Peace Hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past two years, Dr. Chrisanne Christensen, associate professor of psychology at Southern Arkansas University, and other faculty in the department have put community service into action as an optional part of the curriculum. Though the faculty of the department are involved in many community-related projects, one that is close to their heart is… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[297,276],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bss","8":"category-community-corner","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}