CONWAY, Ark. (January 25, 2016) – Ten Hendrix College students spent part of winter break in California working with DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) Hollywood, an organization that serves the homeless and food insecure.
Throughout the weeklong mission trip, sponsored by the
Hendrix Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling, the group also worked with various agencies such as Project Angel Food, which prepares and delivers healthy meals to people restricted to their homes due to life-threatening illnesses; the Los Angeles Food
Bank; Lord's Lighthouse, a refuge for at-risk males of Los Angeles; and the Center at Blessed Sacrament, which provides fun and engaging group activities to people living homelessly in an effort to build community and foster relationships.
Mission trip participants include:
- Cordell Campbell ’19
- Ty Glanville ’16
- Gabby James ’16
- Jennifer Kim ’17
- Marie Kressin ’17
- NK O’keke ’16
- Giorgy Sarishvili ’18
- Madison Schallhorn ’16
- Susannah Stubbs ’19
- Sarah Walker ’18
The trip was co-led by religious studies professor Dr. Robert Williamson and Jamie Fotioo Groat and Tonya Hale from the Office of Student Affairs.
“What I enjoyed most was the opportunity to think more analytically and critically about issues surrounding homelessness and food insecurity,” said Schallhorn. “Having been on many other service trips and one other Miller Center Mission Trip (Seattle, Spring Break
2014), this was not my first exposure to these types of issues. But I believe throughout my years at Hendrix, I've gained skills to think deeper and to be much more analytical. I enjoyed stretching my previous understanding of these issues to think more about the causes of poverty rooted in systemic problems.
In some sense, my favorite part of the trip was being able to combine my previous knowledge with the new ways of thinking about things, and from there looking at how I can try to create change after graduation.”
“I cannot fully articulate how this mission trip has affected me,” said Sarishvili. “But what I can say is, I now feel that a new door of opportunity has opened for me. I can see myself helping people in other ways besides scientific pursuits, just like I always
thought I could.”
About the Miller Center
Established in 2008, the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling provides resources and programming for Hendrix College students, faculty and staff to explore the work and life to which they are called, the vocation that will fulfill. For more information,
visit
http://www.hendrix.edu/millercenter/.
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That Change Lives:
40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.