Community Gardens Archives - Community Engagement Blog

My Year in the Center for Community Engagement: Always Striving for More

June 14, 2017 by Katy Warfield

The school year has finally come to an end after what feels like an eternity. I’ve taken my last final and can now focus on my final year of undergrad starting in the fall. Though I am beyond excited for what the next year has to offer, I think it is appropriate to reflect on the stressful, yet meaningful year that I have had working in the Center for Community Engagement.

CCE Student Coordinators John and Katy helped provide more than 5,100 meals through Stomp Out Hunger.

More than 60 community members and students joined Katy and the CCE crew for a documentary Screening about Abuse and Neglect Awareness.

I have had the privilege to collaborate on 13 community and campus-wide events focused on engaging and informing students and community members alike. Semester service days have encouraged over one thousand Missouri State students to meaningfully serve the Springfield Community. Over fifteen hundred pounds of shoes were collected in November for Stomp Out Hunger and provided over 5,000 meals for distribution through Friends Against Hunger. The spring and fall Community Engagement Fairs connected over 100 community partners to university students eager to serve the community. Three documentary screenings and panels have provided a powerful narrative on child abuse as well as homelessness and hunger for students, community members, and partners to grasp the cultural competencies required to empathize with the populations we strive serve effectively. Students completed over 35,000 approved service hours for scholarship and GEP classes since the beginning of the 2016 school year. These numbers make me proud. They quantify the hard work that we, as an office, have put into promoting an inspired campus culture focused on community engagement and service.

Yet, these accomplishments were only a fraction of the effort put out by our office students and staff. This doesn’t include the Vision Screening Program trip to Haiti, Nixa Alternative Court program office case workers, or the dozens of community agencies paired with students for the year’s service learning program. I could go on and on listing the achievements of the school year for the Center for Community Engagement; however, I have one project that I would especially love to highlight. It is not a community outreach program or a Zone Blitz project. It is not a documentary screening or donation drive.

The project that I am extremely proud of is the CCE’s work in redefining its vision, values, and mission statement. As an office, we have created a new focal point to reflect and better ourselves as a means to foster a more sustainable and reciprocal student-to-community network. The effort to fulfill our duty as a public affairs institution and as a representative of the Community Engagement pillar is made possible by the internal office motivation to strive to do more. More community talks. More students applying to Bear Breaks Immersion trips. More meaningful service performed. More open office environment inviting students to come in a feel more comfortable asking for help. More community agency partnerships.

This office has brought me friendships and mentorship from so many individuals that always look for more. It is an incredible environment to be in. My leadership and ability to take on responsibility has been tested and though I have made mistakes along the way, I always strive to do more. Community Engagement is more than just service hours and documentaries. It is about creating connection and meaning. Redefining our vision and how we achieve it is crucial to fulfilling our duty as Bears and citizen servant leaders.

It Takes a Community

November 18, 2016 by John Lang

Bear Blitz is this year’s Public Affairs Signature Event, an event that really puts students out there to learn more about the issues Springfield faces as a community, how those affect the state, country, and world, and how they also affect each and every person in their daily walk. Bear Blitz is the University sending students to the streets of Northwest Springfield, referred to as Zone 1. A result of much research and planning, The Zone 1 Blitz is a city wide effort to improve the neighborhoods of Zone 1 and make for healthier and safer living. Much of the work being done is through the Springfield Community Gardens. These are places that residents can visit to receive fresh produce, and learn about healthy lifestyle choices they could implement into their own life. Through Bear Blitz, Missouri State students were able to help to make this goal a reality for the residents of those neighborhoods.

It is worth mentioning, I have worked in many community gardens around the country. Through Bear Breaks Immersion trips I have been able to witness different types of gardens in different cities, that each focus on specific issues that plague their community. I have had great experiences, and some that were not so great. I have learned more than I can fit into one post about how big of an impact a garden can make on a community. But what I have learned most was driven deeper today than I can imagine. I was reminded one person cannot possibly maintain a garden for an entire community, but when an entire community comes together, no one person has to feel like they are over worked. As I have heard it put, “Many hands make for light work.”

I volunteered at the Hovey House Community Garden, and had an experience I won’t soon forget. It may have been a little slow at times, but that led to discussions and relationship building that cannot be rivaled. I like to say, “Friends that serve together, stay together,” and I think there is more truth to it than I know. Relationships built around service are built on mutual respect, humility, humanity, meaningful dialogue and vulnerability.

To begin our service I was given a shovel and told to loosen up the soil so marble slabs that had been buried would be able to be reached. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. I wasn’t getting the chance to get my hands dirty, or do anything that I had really expected. Hopeful for work that would be more “fun”, I, along with another MSU volunteer, was given a pitchfork and told to go find the previously mentioned marble slab. After about thirty minutes of stabbing the ground with a fork hoping to hit a rock, we had collected three slabs of marble about the size of a keyboard. We were fooled time and again by pebbles that would hit the pitchfork only to let our hopes down when we dug around. I finally got my hands dirty and felt like I did something, even if I had few results to show for it.

The next phase was the part that will keep me coming back. A truck Ozarks Food Harvest came and delivered dozens of boxes of food, the majority being fruits and vegetables. I was not sure what the purpose was at the time, but I jumped in and carried things where I could. What blew me away was the efficiency at which everyone worked to unload the truck. Even with between 10-15 volunteers and a very small shed,I never felt cramped. Everyone was split into three stations, unloading, unpacking and box tear down. I am not exaggerating when I say the hundreds of pounds of food had been sorted and packed away withing about ten minutes of beginning. For a short time I stopped and tried to just take a step back to realize how amazing this system was working.

While I was welcome to leave after this, I stayed for about another hour. I sat and talked to other volunteers, mostly just community members, for almost all of it. I asked how they became involved, what kept them coming back, and more and answered similar questions, but more than anything we just talked. We shared life experiences, stories, and thoughts. We swapped ideas, opinions, and goals. It was unbelievably refreshing. So often when we serve, we are not actually serving with our whole heart, but instead just getting our hours in for our scholarships, classes, organizations, or resumes. Being out there this week helped me to realize how many people live in Zone 1 and are looking to improve their life. They are looking for a way to enrich their lives, and many of those I met today are able to use service to their community as the vehicle.

Bear Blitz encourages students to pop the college bubble. It challenges preconceived notions and forces inward reflection. All it takes is an hour of your time and you can go from being frustrated with digging for rocks to being an engaged citizen that is eager to learn about others’ lives and what they think. It’s that easy. For more information on how you can serve these communities, feel free to visit the Center for Community Engagement in PSU 131, online at our website, or at http://givepulse.com. There is so much work to be done, we cannot possibly do it on our own, but any hands we can get lightens the load.

_{-John Lang, Junior, Student Coordinator, Center for Community Engagement}

Join the Homecoming Queen in Service!

November 15, 2016 by Alex Johnson

On Monday I had the opportunity to volunteer at one of the 19 community gardens in the city of Springfield. This was my first experience serving with the Springfield Community Gardens, but I can confidently say it won’t be my last. The Springfield Community Gardens, established in 2010, has distributed over 100,000 pounds of produce to families in need. This impact would not be possible if it weren’t for the 6,500 volunteer hours logged by community members, including Missouri State students.

The Springfield Community Gardens exist to “improve food choices and environment, create a sense of place, build relationships and social capital, and retain/attract families, businesses, and young professionals.” The mission of this organization ties right in with Bear Blitz, Missouri State’s Public Affairs Community Engagement Project. The focus of Bear Blitz is to serve the people of Zone 1 (Northwest Springfield), in areas such as food access and transportation.

Residents who live near one of the 19 community gardens are able to help tend to the garden in exchange for produce. Individuals who take advantage of a Springfield Community Garden can reap benefits such as “helping their families be better fed, better off financially, and in better health.”

My volunteer shift at the community garden on W Calhoun Street consisted of clearing away weeds and overgrowth along the edge of the grounds. Other volunteers tilled the ground, spread fertilizer, and prepared a space for mulch to cover the area around fruit trees. My volunteer experience at the Springfield Community Gardens allowed me to spend time outside on an oddly warm and beautiful November afternoon, work alongside fellow Missouri State students, and serve an area of Springfield that is greatly appreciative of our help.

The Springfield Community Gardens has several chances each week for students to get involved. It is a great opportunity for those of you who enjoy being outdoors, and appreciate seeing tangible results of your service hours. You can be a part of the Missouri State Bear Blitz, and sign up for volunteer experiences through the Springfield Community Gardens, or other like-minded organizations by visiting www.givepulse.com.

^{-Tai Thrasher, Senior, Public Relations major}