Jim Amidon — As I sat down to write this last Friday, I did so with a smile on my face. I had just finished writing a few brief stories about some of the good works Wabash students had done as the semester wound to a close. Before long, I was beaming with pride.
And since Wabash seemed to get its fair share of bad press this fall, it occurred to me that it was high time to focus a shining light on some of the lesser-known good deeds I discovered.
Perhaps you saw the picture in last Friday’s paper of the four Sphinx Club members presenting a check to Andy Ford at the Montgomery County Family Crisis Shelter. I drove over with Sphinx Club President Kyle Hayes and members Elliott Allen, Kevin Long, and Denver Wade when the students handed over checks for about $1,200.
The money came from the Sphinx Club’s annual fund-raiser, Co-Motion, the proceeds from which go the Family Crisis Shelter here in Crawfordsville and the Julian Center in Indianapolis.
Co-Motion is a joint fund-raising competition between Wabash and DePauw; the two schools spend the month of November raising money for local domestic violence shelters — and raising awareness of the horrors of domestic violence.
When I got back to campus after taking the picture of this year’s check presentation, I asked my friend Terri Fyffe to look up some numbers. I was shocked — and thrilled — to learn from Terri that Wabash’s Co-Motion donations to the Family Crisis Shelter have totaled more than $9,800 in just the last three years.
Earlier in the week, I learned that the Wabash Student Senate voted to donate $1,000 to insulate a Habitat for Humanity house near campus, a house on which a number of Wabash students have worked throughout the fall.
The same night the students voted to pay for the Habitat house’s insulation, they also voted to adopt more children in this year’s REINdear program.
The Wabash chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, had been collecting REINdear money from students all across campus. The Student Senate added another $1,000, and by the time the finals week ended, Wabash students had purchased toys and clothes for 50 REINdear children in our community to provide for them a merrier Christmas.
Thanks, as well, to the faculty and staff at Wabash for their efforts to provide REINdear gifts for 43 more children in our community.
Philanthropy seems to be in the air, which is a good thing when so many families are facing such hardships.
Speaking of philanthropy, did you know that the folks who own the two new coffee shops in town, Good to Go Xpresso, are making donations to our local schools?
Swing by and ask for a punch card for Wabash. Each time you purchase an espresso, coffee, or smoothie, get your card punched. You’ll not only save a buck on a future drink, you’ll be helping out the College.
Last Thursday, I went with my colleague Joe Emmick to meet Sharon and Kurt Conklin, the coffee shops’ owners (left). They presented Joe with a check from the first few months of the Wabash punch card program. The donations will be pooled over time, and will provide a scholarship for a Montgomery County student who attends Wabash.
What a cool business model, I thought as I left the coffee shop on 231 south.
On the way home, it occurred to me that we have a lot of local businesses that do similar good deeds. You see it when Johnny Provolone’s turns over its restaurant to the Sugar Creek Players or a youth group. You see it when kids are bagging groceries at County Market, and when Applebee’s has special nights when proceeds go back into our community.
As 2008 comes to a close, many in our community face uncertain futures. Many among us will lose their jobs, while others will see their hours and their pay reduced.
While that causes us to fear that 2009 will enter with fury, it is heartening to know that this is a community that reaches out to extend a helping hand to those in need.
It is my hope that all of us can ride out this storm by realizing that there is enormous strength in our numbers.
