Passion for Service

Supporting and encouraging the collaboration between APSU and the needs of the community through curricular and co-curricular experiences

» In response to multiple natural disasters that occurred during the fall, the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement centralized collections and drives. Partners from Student Life & Engagement, Academic Affairs, Athletics, Student Affairs, Physical Plant, student organizations, faculty and students worked together on campuswide fundraising, and a very successful collection drive was coordinated with items specifically chosen for certain nonprofits in Texas and Florida.

» The Food for Fines program, a partnership between the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement and Campus Police, allows members of the APSU community to pay parking tickets with donations to the SOS Food Pantry. Program participants increased to 370 from 180 in 2016, the number of citations waived increased from 234 to 406, and the amount of food donations increased to 3,066 from 2,063.

Chi O Cookout and Concert

The Sigma Kappa Chapter of Chi Omega Women’s Fraternity raised an incredible $30,163 with its Chi O Cookout and Concert to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Funds were raised through ticket sales to the event, donations and business sponsorships. The cookout and concert featured a silent auction, cornhole tournament and a reflection board for people to write their wishes. The total raised was more than double the original chapter goal of $15,000. The cookout featured a concert by country music artist Jon Langston, who was contacted by a chapter member on Twitter with an invitation to perform. He responded he’d perform for 1,000 retweets. The first night gained 1,500 retweets and resulted in his performance.

» Housing, Residence Life and Dining Services hosted “Cocoa and Carols in the Quad” where gloves, hats and scarves were collected for local organizations in the Clarksville area providing services for the homeless. Participants enjoyed hot cocoa, sang carols and enjoyed fellowship.

» In March, AP Dining teamed up with Student Government Association and the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement on a project to aid students with food insecurity. The program, called The PEAYple’s Plate, collected 130 meal donations from meal swipes, Plus Dollars, Gov Bucks and credit/debit cards for students in need.

» A group of student volunteers traveled to Grafton, Illinois, in early March as part of an Alternative Break service trip sponsored by the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement. The student group worked with Living Lands & Waters, an organization dedicated to environmental conservation efforts, and assisted in building fish beds, cleaning and beautification of an island, and removing invasive plants from a bluff overlooking the city.

» Over 200 students volunteered to provide notetaker services for students who have difficulty writing class notes due to a disability. The program is of great assistance for students registered with Office of Student Disability Resource Center and provides the opportunity for volunteers to support their peers while documenting up to 45 hours of community service.

» Student organizations Confident Couture, Gay-Straight Alliance and Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity partnered with the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement to sponsor food drives throughout the year in support of the SOS Food Pantry.

» Over 200 members of the fraternity and sorority community volunteered to assist with Welcome Wagon, the Housing, Residence Life and Dining Services annual freshman move-in day event. New training was implemented for the volunteers to help them prepare to meet and serve new students moving into the residence halls for fall.

» Over $2,600 was donated to the SOS Food Pantry in the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement by Chartwell’s. The donation came from change collected at dining registers throughout the year.

» The YAIPaks Service Project, sponsored by the Adult, Nontraditional & Transfer Student Center, allowed students and their families to help sort donations for a nonprofit that collects needed items for the homeless, interview clothing for individuals leaving prison and children taken into state custody. YAIPaks indicated the APSU students and families were the most helpful of any group who volunteered.

» Student Publications and The All State staff provided journalism training for fifth and sixth grade yearbook students from KIPP Academy in Nashville. The department and newspaper staff also provided journalism training for fifth-graders who produce a newspaper from North Stewart Elementary School in Stewart County. Topics discussed were photography, interviewing, plagiarism, writing process and the importance of the First Amendment. These experiences introduced elementary students to APSU and to skills that can be incorporated across their educational development.

» The Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement was chosen as an agency to “glean” leftover produce from farmers at the Clarksville Downtown Market. The center received hundreds of pounds of produce twice a month, which was shared with their partner food bank Loaves and Fishes. Several hundred pounds of fresh produce were prepared for storage and 296 pounds were given out.

Hurricane Relief

The damage in Puerto Rico prompted the idea of fundraising with student-designed T-shirts. Student Life & Engagement coordinated the distribution and sales of the T-shirts at events such as Homecoming tailgate and International Night, collaborating with the Hispanic Cultural Center, Student Organization Council and members of Sigma Delta Pi. At the end of the spring semester $1,500 was raised from T-shirt sales. A service trip was sponsored by the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement to Puerto Rico with nine students to assist with hurricane restoration projects was scheduled for July 2018. In total $4,489 was raised for hurricane relief efforts, in addition to physical donations.

» The “Help an Elf” program provided holiday gifts to 32 APSU student families with 58 children in fall 2017. The annual program, designed to assist currently enrolled, full-time APSU students with holiday shopping by providing gifts for their children, has been a part of celebrating the holiday season and assisting APSU students and their families since 1994. Student Affairs, sponsor of the program, provides and processes the applications and works with individual staff and faculty members as well as university departments, athletic teams and student organizations to adopt the families and provide gifts for the children. 

» Over 50 military-affiliated students received bags filled with supplies needed for college classes. The supplies were donated by staff, faculty, students and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. The Military Student Center coordinated the donation drive, bag assembly and application process. Students applied for assistance and bags were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement