Judson students, faculty, staff minister through community outreach in Perry County

Marion Matters is Judson College’s community outreach program that engages students, faculty and staff in a variety of work projects in the city of Marion and Perry County.

In early September, a total of 14 volunteer crews from the college traveled to different venues in Marion to perform service tasks. Community work sites included a cemetery, schools, libraries and nursing homes. More than 130 people participated in the program.

At the Marion Cemetery four crews worked to clean the grounds — picking up trash, hauling away brush and painting the wrought iron fence.

One of the cemetery crews was led by Thomas Wilson, head of the college’s biology department. “Dr. Olson, the students and I visited many graves of slaves and freedmen,” Wilson said.

“The students learned how a few people in Marion have taken it upon themselves to rescue old graves that have been taken by time and by kudzu. We feel good about our community service project,” he said.

The cemetery crews comprised the largest number of workers, which included 40 students and six faculty members; Judson College President David Potts also joined the cemetery cleanup project.

Additional Judson work crews were assigned to the following sites: Sowing Seeds of Hope Community Center, Albert Turner Elementary School, Lincoln School, Perry County Nursing Home, Southland Nursing Home, Marion-Perry County Library and Marion Academy.

Marion Matters traditionally begins campus activities every fall semester, and it is organized and directed by Judson’s Student Services’ Office of Faith-Based Service and Learning.

Claire Feazel, newly appointed coordinator of Faith-Based Service and Learning, said, “We ask first-year students to do Marion Matters to see the opportunities of helping the community.”

‘Larger impact’

Feazel believes passionately about how all students are responsible for helping Marion. “If we all just do a little bit to help the place that we are living in, eventually we will see small changes, and eventually small changes will have a larger impact,” she said.

(Judson)