Cedar Crest College

Earlier this month, the Lutz Center hosted seven students for their "In the Valley, For the Valley" Alternative Spring Break. Michele Moyer, Director of Career Development and Community Engagement, and Takyra Batz, Assistant Director for Community Engagement and Leadership Development, coordinated and led the week of service. Alternative Spring Break offers students the opportunity to join their campus community for a week of service to a community, rather than a traditional spring break vacation. The inaugural "In the Valley, For the Valley" model used this year focuses on sharing our Greater Lehigh Valley community's needs, businesses, and sites with our students without requiring a cost to attend the program. Students can fully engage in the community for the full week. The participants received the following experiences: PPL Center Tour, Phantoms Game, ArtsQuest (5 hours of service), Zekraft Cafe - Bethlehem, SteelStacks, Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works, Wildlands Conservancy (5 hours of service), Nowhere Coffee Co - South Mountain, Downtown Emmaus Shopping (FD Market, Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Let's Play Books Bookstore, Conversational Threads Fiber Arts Studio), Cactus Blue Mexican Restaurant, Second Harvest Food Bank (5 hours of service), Martin Guitar Museum, Detzi's Tavern, Udder Bar and the Valley Against Sex Trafficking (5 hours of service). The following students used their time off for Spring Break to serve others: Senior: Rosemarie "Rosie" Kramer, Juniors: Lyss Marino, Lataisha "Latty" Jenkins, Mary Scannell, Sophomore: Deshian Garricks, Maliha Asad, and Alexie "Alex" Blum.

Cedar Crest College believes that being civically engaged in one's community is a critical step in one's life journey. Each year during New Student Orientation, students are provided an opportunity to begin their civic journey by volunteering during our annual Day of Service. This opportunity allows students to serve others while demonstrating learning, connection, and caring involvement in the surrounding community. The Class of 2023 teamed up with faculty and staff members, Interim President Elizabeth Meade, and their first -year mentors on Saturday, August 24, 2019. The group cleaned up the grounds at Trexler Park and teamed up with the Special Olympics.

Cedar Crest College's Alpha Phi Omega Chapter was awarded the 2019 Alpha Phi Omega Youth Service Grant for programming that the organization will be doing with local children and youth during the month of April. Projects will include working with the Campus Earth Day Celebration and the local Cherry Blossom Festival in Cedar Beach park. According to the International Alpha Phi Omega website, "the goal of the Youth Service Grant is to provide funding for Alpha Phi Omega chapters for programming that will encourage, inspire, and make an impact on children and young people in a socially positive manner."

Cedar Crest College believes that being civically engaged in one's community is a critical step in one's life journey. Each year during New Student Orientation, students are provided an opportunity to begin their civic journey by volunteering during our annual Day of Service. This opportunity allows students to serve others while demonstrating learning, connection, and caring involvement in the surrounding community. The Class of 2021 teamed up with faculty and staff members, Interim President Elizabeth Meade, and the Friends of the Allentown Parks for the college's Day of Service on Saturday, August 26, 2017. The group cleaned up the grounds between Fountain Park and Valania Park in Allentown. Later in the day the group walked to Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ at 620 Hamilton Street, where Cedar Crest College held its first classes on September 5, 1867, for a photo.

America Reads and America Counts is a tutoring opportunity that works with local children in before school, during school and after school programs to help children develop and improve their reading and math skills. Cedar Crest College students work with community children from kindergarten to 12th grade. America Reads and America Counts student staff members are: Pascaline Agboka, Samantha Anderson, Alexandra Arabio, Alexis Baxter, Nathalie Castano, Hope Harrison, Jihnai Johnson, Alyssa Knittel, Madeline Kohutka, Claire Little, Justina Lopez, Skylar Miller, Katelyn Moeser, Brenda Moreno, Alexandra Morgan, Katie Nemeth, Amy Nguyen, Elyse Podgurski, Emily Roberto, Khnaue Robinson, Dayanese Rodriguez, Alexis Schaner, Haley Smith, Kayla Smith, Tahirrah Steele, Luisanny Suarez, Shemeca Thompson, Kelsey Ward, Rachel Wielgopolski, Sarafina Woolridge-Burns.

The Cedar Crest College Lutz Center for Community Service is a student run office providing individuals and campus groups with opportunities to participate in on-going service projects such as after school tutoring programs and nursing home visits. In addition, campus members can participate in a variety of one-time events such as blood drtives, helping at an animal shelter, and restocking at the local food bank. The Lutz Center for Community Service staff work to recruit, orient, reflect with and recognize volunteers through the development, facilitation and assessment of one-time and weekly programs with local community agencies and organizations. 2017-18 Lutz Center for Community Service student staff members are: Leslie Cano, Haley Smith, Adaliz Gonzalez, Lea Feldman, Grace Dougherty, Jamillexe Soto, Corina Peguero, Martha Arredondo, Michelle Reyes, Abagail Billig, Elizabeth Thompson, Kelsey Kehm, Sherlee Velazquez, Madeline Kortze.

Cedar Crest Colleges focuses on creating successful citizens who are conscious of the needs of others and committed to civic engagement and community service. The following students have dedicated a minimum of 100 hours over the course of the 2014-2015 academic year to making a difference in their community and the lives of others in the world around them:

Cedar Crest College offers students the opportunity to participate in an alternative spring break. This service and learning immersion program exposes students to complex social and cultural issues through community visits, experiential learning, direct service, group discussion, readings, and reflection activities. The following students are transforming themselves into advocates of social change on issues affecting our local, national and global communities:

Since 1867, the women of Cedar Crest College have strived to improve the lives of those around them through education and service to community. Today, that tradition continues through a campus-wide commitment to community service projects that address societal problems such as hunger, homelessness and illiteracy. The following students have been selected to serve as Community Service Coordinators for The Lutz Center for Community Service:

The following Cedar Crest College students were selected to participate in American Reads/America Counts, a federal work-study program designed to help children learn to read and learn arithmetic: