Centre volunteers help brighten Thanksgiving
for local families

RELEASED: November 27, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—More than 30 Centre College students involved with the Bonner Program, C.A.R.E. (Centre Action Reaches Everyone) and C.O.R.S. (Centre Outdoor Recreation and Service) recently participated in a canned food drive in Danville neighborhoods and collected almost 2,000 canned goods and other non-perishable food items for the local Salvation Army.

"It was a great showing of positive student effort in our area, and the students' efforts will help many needy families in our community during the holiday season," says Patrick Noltemeyer, associate dean and director of community service and the Bonner Program.

Chase Warner '10, president of C.A.R.E., said that the group chose to work with the Salvation Army, and specifically the one in Danville, because of the contribution they could make to a community that has already given them so much.

"Centre and Danville consistently provide a safe, fun environment in which Centre students can learn...the least we can do is work with an organization that will allow us to give back to Danville's less fortunate," Warner says.

All of the almost 2,000 individual food donations received will be distributed to families in need in the Danville-Boyle County area.

"If you calculate two cans per person in a family of four, that's more than 240 families served!" Warner says. "Centre students and the community have made a significant contribution to the cause!"

This is just one of many projects CARE, Centre's umbrella volunteer organization, has completed this year. In October, volunteers worked with other campus student groups to throw a successful block party for children of faculty and staff, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Centro Latino and the Comprehensive Care After School Program. Students also were responsible for facilitating the annual Service Plunge for Centre's first-year students.

The canned food drive was part of C.A.R.E.'s focus in November on poverty and homelessness. Students orchestrated this event and others in concert with Poverty and Homelessness Awareness week, including a Saturday of Service in both Lexington and Louisville and a convocation on campus. C.A.R.E. is currently participating in the Angel Tree program with the Salvation Army; the group has more than 75 children for whom it is endeavoring to find support.

Students, faculty and staff may contact Warner or Noltemeyer for more information on sponsoring a child from the Angel Tree for the holidays.

For more information on volunteer opportunities at Centre, click here.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.