The Wolfington Center has issued a new biweekly newsletter titled “Heartbeats.” “It is an every two weeks, easy to read, easy to pick up bulletin that focuses on one issue,” Dr. Mary Laver, coordinator of community outreach and partnerships, said.
The first issue of “Heartbeats” was released Tuesday, Sept. 10 with the topic focused on voting.
Every issue will contain a weekly update, a new topic and a cartoon comic done by Brian Fry. A “Big Heart of the Month”, which is an award, will appear in every other issue. The first “Big Heart of the Month” went to the freshman class of 2006 for the highest attendance percentage in Day of Service’s history.
Included within the newsletter are specific programs that anyone can sign up to participate in. “We want to not only educate the heart, but advocate the heart,” Laver said. “We want to encourage people to not only get involved directly, but actively as well by participating in a program or even starting their own programs. We see ‘Heartbeats’ as one way to do that.”
One of the programs that is offered include Outreach Saturdays. This is a half day long program where one can volunteer his or her services at local organizations, such as: Habitat for Humanity, St. Francis Inn soup kitchen and some children’s programs in the Philadelphia area. Another is the 8-mile long AIDS walk, where there is the potential to raise money for local AIDS programs.
Project Appalachia is a hands-on program in which Spring Break is spent in West Virginia working and building to improve the housing in that area.
Border Experience is a weeklong trip to Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas held in May of 2003. It is an experience where one will learn about trade and immigration on the United States-Mexico border.
CAV-Pride is a student-led program that works with under-privileged children. There are some other programs that can be signed up for in the Wolfington Center by the food court.
The next issue of “Heartbeats” will be released next week and the issue of the newsletter will be on the education gap. It is on the poor children and their school districts vs. upper-class children and their school districts. It will discuss how it affects them and their education.
