FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 13, 2011
Contact: Corbett Estes
(662) 329-7119
cme@muw.edu

MUW students participate in Hearin Alternative Break in Smithville

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Students from Mississippi University for Women recently logged almost 750 hours of community service in Smithville as part of the Hearin Leadership Program’s Alternative Break.

Alternative Break, a program put together by the Hearin Leadership Program, is an opportunity for students to perform community service in a high need area over the period of a weekend.

Fifty students travelled to Smithville to assist with disaster relief efforts such as landscaping and cleaning and painting homes as they were being prepared for renovation.

Jessica Harpole, MUW’s coordinator of leadership and service, said that the community service in Smithville was “Hearin’s way of students participating in a meaningful experience in a short amount of time.”

“Several students in the Hearin Leadership Program are from Smithville so it was unanimously decided that our tornado relief efforts should be there,” she said. “Our students wanted to give their time to help other MUW students and their families in this time of rebuilding.”

Noelle Avenmarg, an MUW student from Jackson, said, "Going to Smithville for Alternative Break this year was a very humbling and enriching experience. The community of Smithville is still full of hope and the rebuilding process is going strong.  I have attended every Hearin Alternative Break since my freshman year and this trip was a wonderful one to end on."

For more information about community service opportunities, contact Harpole at (662) 329-7355.