12 alumni & friends
Community Block Party receives grant The Jamestown Community Block Party, an annual event held to welcome Jamestown College students to the community, has received a $500 Event Volunteerism Always Pays grant from the Walmart Foundation. Held in downtown Jamestown, the Block Party invites businesses and organizations to showcase all they have to offer to Jamestown College students and the community. First-year students attend together as part of New Student Orientation activities. The event has grown each year since the first Block Party held in 2008. The Event VAP program awards grants when a group of at least five associates volunteer 25 hours with an eligible organization.
Pictured left to right: College.Community.Connection representatives Gary Van Zinderen, Lisa Hicks, Carrie Englin, and representing Walmart: Angie Maetzold, John Shafer, Donna Clark, Susan Freymark, Sarah Dickenson, Shirley Schaan and Nikki Meza.
Making a Difference A project spearheaded by the junior Character in Leadership class during the fall semester raised more than $2,700 for an up-andcoming organization working to eradicate poverty around the world. The organization MyFight partners with Microfinance Institutes to provide small business loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. “In order to end poverty, MyFight believes we must also end the problem of dependency,” says class adviser Dr. Ben Kirkeby, assistant professor of psychology. “One way this is accomplished is through funding entrepreneurs who, in turn, are able to feed and educate their children, employ their neighbors, and build their communities.” The class arranged several fundraising activities throughout the semester and hosted the CEO of MyFight on campus in November to discuss the group’s mission. The money raised by the class will fund more than 600 microloans during the next three years.