Alice Lloyd College’s Campus Ministry is serving Knott County senior residents through an ongoing weekly greeting cards project. Every week during their meetings, students take time to write a thoughtful card to a resident letting them know they are thought about and cared for as well as sending pictures of the beautiful scenery of Knott County. The cards are sent along with the community center’s daily meals, which ALC Campus Ministry raised and donated $500.
The work of ALC’s Campus Ministry does not go unnoticed. Jeff Dobson, Knott County Judge Executive and the Community Center Director, stated, “It’s such a blessing to have an awesome relationship with ALC! During these difficult and depressing times with COVID, the Alice Lloyd campus ministry saw the need of our seniors and stepped up to do their part in giving back to our community! We want to keep a smiling face on our most vulnerable people in difficult times and remind them how special they are to us!”
The pandemic has made it challenging to serve neighbors, but, fortunately, people and organizations, such as ALC’s Campus Ministry, have risen to the challenge. ALC Campus Ministries Staff Coordinator, Mary Turner, comments, “We’ve had to get creative with serving our community. We want the senior residents to know we still care about them and get them to see the beautiful landscape they can’t see every day but also protect them.”
Teaching the next generation of Appalachian leaders to serve their communities throughout all of life’s challenges is one aspect that motivates ALC’s faculty and staff. Misty Wooton, an ALC freshman, states, “I’m so excited to be a part of this project and see how much of an impact it will have on the senior citizen’s lives. It’s so nice to think how such a small card can bring such a big smile to someone’s face. Also, it’s nice to let them know that someone cares and has them in their prayers.”
Alice Lloyd College cares for the communities across Appalachia by educating the next generation of servant leaders. By walking the Purpose Road, students learn how to live out the Browning Philosophy, which states: “Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense of services which thou renderest.”