Local food drive led by first-year students at Thiel College launches service learning project

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- First-year students, faculty advisors and peer mentors at Thiel College, a leading liberal arts college in northwest Pennsylvania, will begin a community food drive from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on August 25.

As part of a new community-service project initiative during the College’s Welcome Week, students will be dropping bags off at area homes throughout the Greenville community with a list of suggested non-perishable items for collection. Students will return to those homes to collect the filled bags from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, August 29. Food will be sorted and donated to the Good Shepherd Food Pantry in Greenville.

In 2015, about 13 percent of Mercer County residents and 20 percent of its children struggle with food insecurity, according to Feeding America, a national non-profit hunger relief organization.

The service learning food drive is designed to instill the importance of community awareness and being an active member in a community that goes beyond the borders of campus and home, said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Elizabeth Frombgen, Ph.D.

The First-Year Experience program ensures student success through a thoughtful and deliberate series of activities, events, academic advising, orientation and a first-year seminar class. While engaging in a series of activities, students explore the college experience where studies, interactions, and residential and social experiences come together to challenge how they think and to communicate differently and collaboratively as a member of a diverse community.

“This introduction to civic involvement is an important component of the College’s mission to educate students for lives of meaning and purpose,” said Thiel College President Susan Traverso, Ph.D. “We believe this is just one of the many ways our students can connect to Greenville, create community and make our region a better place for all.”

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