Student Leadership Recognition Celebrates Outstanding Community Service Work

The Jenzabar Foundation Honors Seven Student Leaders and Groups

BOSTON, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/-- The Jenzabar Foundation recently honored student groups at its annual Student Leadership Awards ceremony in Dallas, Texas. The event recognized seven student-led campus groups who have made significant contributions to better the world outside of their colleges and universities.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120611/DC22187 )

Student Leadership Award winners have exemplified a commitment to making a difference in a local, national or international community either through ongoing activities or through the completion of a project during the 2011-2012 academic year. Some of the award recipients were honored at The Jenzabar Foundation Student Leadership Awards ceremony during Jenzabar's Annual Meeting (JAM) on May 30, in Dallas, Texas. Each Student Leadership Award winner received a $5,000 grant to continue their work. Remaining honorees will be recognized at a future conference.

The following student groups earned 2012 Student Leadership Awards on May 30:

• Asbury Theological Seminary; The Ministry for Global Community Formation (GCF): GCF seeks to provide students faculty, staff and their families with opportunities to serve locally in Jessamine County, KY and beyond, as part of their formation while at Asbury Seminary. GCF formed a relationship with The Providence School, an alternative school that specializes in serving students who have not succeeded in traditional schools. The Global Community Formation has been providing volunteers to serve the school in a variety of ways, from preparing their new building through cleaning and labor projects to tutoring and mentoring.
• Buena Vista University; Student M.O.V.E. (Mobilize, Outreach, Volunteer, Efforts): MOVE is the student advisory board to the office of civic engagement at Buena Vista University. The group annually hosts over 20 civic engagement activities a year, which involve service and civic engagement on a local level, but also on an international level. Last year they engaged over 800 students, faculty, and staff in 18,500 hours of service on the small campus with a student body population of 900. Among the initiatives that Student M.O.V.E. supports, it hosts Alternative Happy Hour's once a month to encourage students to serve and volunteer rather than attending the local restaurants happy hours.
• Rice University; Partnership for the Advancement and Immersion of Refugees (PAIR): PAIR's mission is to connect young refugees with college and community volunteers through educational programs that build positive mentoring relationships and empower refugee students to reach their highest potential. After seeing how refugee youth struggled with adjusting to life in the United States, they implemented a weekly cultural orientation program for young refugees with the help of other Rice University volunteers. PAIR currently serves 150-200 refugee youth annually with an equal number of volunteers from Rice University, the University of Houston, and the Houston community.
• University of Saint Francis; Physician Assistant Student Society (USF PASS): In March of 2011, USF PASS traveled to Haiti during the spring break of their clinical year so that they could provide medical services through the free healthcare clinics. In 2011, over 1000 patients were assessed, evaluated and treated in four days at the makeshift clinic. Haiti Outreach Ministries has now established a permanent clinic to help with continuity of care for the Haitian people. In March of 2012, a USF PASS group of 15 students again went to Haiti to provide free medical clinics/care, establishing what will be an annual program for PASS participants.
• Valley Forge Christian College; Community Service Day: Community Service Day began as an expression of one of the core Valley Forge Christian College institutional values, which is to be a good neighbor to the residents of the Borough of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. CSD brings together approximately 750 students who help local residents with their lawn and gardening work and clean up the surrounding parks, community streets and roadways. Ultimately, students provide the hands-on assistance needed in rebuilding and cleaning the community areas in the Borough of Phoenixville.

The ceremony also recognized The Naropa Community Art Studio, a successful service learning project offered by the Art Therapy program at Naropa University. The guiding vision behind this long-term project has been to provide a safe place for various members of the Boulder community to gather and create art together. They aim to attract people who are often marginalized and unlikely to have contact with the humanizing practice of engaging in creative, artistic behavior in community. Through the help of a Jenzabar Foundation grant, this project will offer art therapy and training to survivors of sex trafficking in Cambodia.

This year's Heroic Leadership Award honored Valley Forge Christian College, recognizing the heroic work of VFCC alumnae Jessica Buchanan. An aid worker serving the people of Somalia, Buchanan was kidnapped in October 2011 and subsequently rescued by U.S. Navy SEALS in January 2012. VFCC will work with Jessica to identify a campus program that is consistent with the service and missionary work that Jessica has embarked upon after her graduation.

"Every year we hold the annual Student Leadership Awards Ceremony to honor inspiring students who have committed themselves to making our communities a better place, and are role models to their peer students," said Bob Maginn, Chairman of the Jenzabar Foundation. "These students have a strong passion for community service and we are honored to present them with these awards to recognize their outstanding work and encourage others to follow in their footsteps."

The Foundation selected the winning student groups based on their impact and mission; involvement on campus and in the community; and the potential for other institutions to emulate their model of service.

About The Jenzabar Foundation
Founded by Jenzabar, Inc., The Foundation issues grants to institutions of higher education and other non-profit organizations with similarly aligned missions, and helps promote the activities of grant recipients within their communities and on a global level. For more information about The Jenzabar Foundation, visit www.thejenzabarfoundation.org.

Contact:
Carina Ganias
617-492-9099 ext 365
[email protected]

SOURCE The Jenzabar Foundation