MCC approaching 20 years of continued service at HOC
Thursday / February 18, 2016
Last Friday, three Phi Theta Kappa members, advisors, and staff volunteered their time to help prepare the nightly meal. Pictured L-R are MCC faculty/staff and PTK members: Pat Brown, Carolyn Briggs, PJ Colbert (PTK advisor), Pele Waddilove (PTK advisor), Petra Alejo (PTK member), Mary Burns, Ted Lewis, Alyssa Strait (PTK member), and Andrew Gartin (PTK member).
Marshalltown Community College started volunteering at the Marshalltown House of Compassion (HOC) in the fall of 1997, and they haven’t looked back since. MCC helps out at the shelter on the second Friday of each month during the fall and spring semesters. Students and staff from the College help plan the meal, prepare it, serve it, and clean up afterwards.
Last Friday, three members of the MCC Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and two advisors did their share in helping continue MCC’s longtime tradition of helping others in the community it serves.
“In the fall of 1997, Connie Adair (now retired English professor) asked MCC faculty and staff how they would feel about volunteering at the House of Compassion on a continuous basis,” says Pele Waddilove, longtime volunteer at the HOC. “Many have signed up and helped off and on throughout the years. What we didn’t expect was how long we would continue to commit to this effort. Our volunteer coordinators started with Connie [Adair], then Linda Moore (now retired Librarian), and now Ted Lewis (accounting instructor) who is in charge of coordinating the whole effort.”
The House of Compassion serves residents of Marshall County through a free nightly meal, a supply closet with household & personal items, and an overnight shelter.
The next volunteer opportunity at the House of Compassion is Friday, March 11. For this date, members of the MCC Collegiate Veterans Association (CVA) have volunteered to help out.