Punxsutawney Phil might have seen his shadow, but that won't stop the CCG team from gearing up for Spring here at Wingate University! With CCG intern projects underway, community garden happenings, service-learning courses, and new community partnerships being formed, we are excited for you to join us as we discover new ways to use our talents, gifts, and passions to serve the common good.

CCG intern Rania Badran was awarded the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award! She was honored in January at a virtual celebration hosted by Wingate University. Rania is a Cultural Leadership Intern for the CCG, as well as president of the Muslim Students Association at Wingate University. Her work with the CCG helps to implement more diversity training and hold conversations with faculty, staff and students to create a more inclusive campus. Stay tuned for the great projects being dreamed and implemented by all 5 of the CCG's CLIs.

We are so proud of Rania and the work she has done to uphold the life and legacy of Dr. King at Wingate University.

CCG Service Learning Coordinator and assistant professor in the Psychology Department, Dr. Candy Lapan participated in a panel hosted by Thrive! Union, the second in a series of community discussions on Systemic Racism. These six panelists offer both personal and data-oriented exploration of systemic racism at the National, State, and local level. You can watch the discussion at the link below.

Valentine's day is just around the corner, and we are sharing the love this month in our newsletter by focusing on our awesome CCG partnerships. Take a look at our spring collaborations below and let us know if you are feeling the love too - we can't wait to get you involved!

CCG Coordinator Erika Niland and AmeriCorp VISTA student Hannah Fraser have been working with the Town of Wingate and the Union County Agricultural Extension on the Community Garden, located on the corner of North Main Street and East Elm Street on Wingate University's campus. They harvested over 10lbs of produce during the month of January, and have big plans for planting, creating cooking demos, increasing accessibility, and adding interactive elements to the garden.

Currently, they are looking for individuals or groups to rent out 8 of the garden's raised beds! They will provide the water and tools, just bring your green thumb! Email us at CCG@wingate.edu if you are interested!

Spearheaded by Wingate Graduate Students Ana Maria Patino and Tim Myers, the Wayfind Program is a college-access program partnered with the CCG that pairs WU students as mentors with local Union County Public School students who have everything it takes to make it to college and succeed but lack the support, access, and opportunity to do so.

If you’re interested and want to become a Wayfind Mentor or want to learn more about the program please email t.myers@wingate.edu or an.patino409@wingate.edu to apply!

CCG Leadership Intern Adden Howard and Dr. Nick DeLangie have been working with Brad Turley of Southern 8th's Farm to develop an awesome spring schedule for the A.L.I.E.N project (Adventure Leadership Immersion Experience). The team's purpose in developing these events is to bring students into nature to develop leadership character traits and group development through engagement, discussion, and reflection. Activities include archery, wilderness escape rooms, hiking, group discussion, article reflections, artistic reflection, and much more.

This spring, there are three leadership development retreats scheduled. We are so excited to welcome the WU Muslim Student Association to our first event of the season! If you or your RSO is interested in attending an event, please reach out to Adden Howard (ad.howard943@wingate.edu) to book your spot on the ALIEN event calendar!

This week re-started the fabulous partnership Chartwell's Dining has with a local non-profit Heart for Monroe! Any surplus food in our dining halls each week gets set aside (rather than thrown out or wasted) and Heart for Monroe picks it up Thursday and repackages it into single servings and offers it to families and seniors in our neighborhood. This week patrons of the Closet (104 Hayne St. Monroe)were able to find warm clothes for their loved ones, choose books to enjoy and leave with a meal. This is the beating heart of sustainability: loving people, place, and prosperity! Want to help? email ccg@wingate.edu and we will help you share the love!

The CCG collaborated with employees from the university, local nonprofit organizations, and local churches to provide food for students who were staying on campus over winter break. Since some of our student's could not go home due to COVID and the dining hall and restaurants around campus were closed over the break, food options were very limited, especially for students without reliable transportation. To make sure all our bulldogs felt the love this winter break, every Tuesday we shared some table fellowship (smiles, snacks, good conversation, food boxes, gift cards, the loan of cooking utensils, and home cooked meals) in the CCG space with over 20 students. Food boxes were donated by Common Heart, a local nonprofit. Snacks were donated by employees and students of the university as well as Heart for Monroe, another local nonprofit. Homemade meals were donated by employees of the university and members of the Community Church of Monroe. The initiative was a great success!

Unsure of how to start your own project? Want to join in on an already-running project? Reach out to us at the following link to complete our CCG Interest Form: https://forms.gle/7aqxTzqrhmEDr8Rp7

Want to learn more or join the CCG? There are various ways to get in touch with us - we would love to hear from you!

Email: ccg@wingate.edu
Website: https://www.wingate.edu/around-campus/common-good
Location: 102 West Wilson Street, Wingate, NC, USA
Phone: 7042338067
Facebook: facebook.com/CCGWingate
Twitter: @CCGWingate