By Kelline Linton, Staff Writer
Anyone with sweet tooth cravings, a pocketful of change and a longing for a free concert on a Friday night may be interested in Social Justice Week, a weeklong justice-oriented event that began Monday.
Tables that feature service organizations have taken over the Campus Center and are loaded with information and volunteer opportunities for ACU for the IRC, International Justice Mission, Service Action Leadership Team and Student Peace Alliance.
“I hope that people look at these groups as something that God calls us to,” said Carrie Gallman, IJM advertising director and junior interior design major from Sugar Land. “This is how we change the world; as a campus we could do so much more.”
The week also includes Jam 4 Justice. This free fundraising concert is Friday at 7 p.m. in the Bean Sprout and showcases the talents of the Rockin Extensions and The Way from Dover. All donations will benefit the Wishing Well organization that digs wells in impoverished villages to provide clean drinking water; each well costs $4,000 and is built by native labor.
Although this is the fourth Social Justice Week for ACU, this is only the second one to be lead by the new Social Justice Coalition.
“We want this week to be really in your face; the goal this year is to get people involved,” said Abby Trejo, IJM secretary and senior biology major from Ulysses, Kan.
ACU for the IRC is one group that set up an informational table; it is a student organization that works with the Abilenebased International Rescue Committee, a foundation that helps settle displaced refugees mainly from Africa and South America.
“We want to find as many new volunteers as we can and raise awareness,” said Madison Saniuk, president of ACU for the IRC.
The group is having an interest meeting Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Biblical Studies Building Room 117; Saniuk, senior political science major from Arlington, will discuss goals and activities with any students interested in this organization. The group is also giving students free yarn bracelets made with the IRC’s yellow and black colors as a reminder about the interest meeting.
“This week is a great way to promote ourselves and, more importantly, a way to let students find out more about the IRC; so many refugees live in Abilene, and people just don’t know,” Saniuk said.
The ACU chapter of the Student Peace Alliance is also offering students a free gift in the form of sweet tasting pie. The treat is a symbolic representation.
“The slice of pie shows how it only takes a little portion, or slice, of the funds from the Department of Defense to create a Department of Peace,” said volunteer Brittany Conrad, sophomore English major from Katy.
The Student Peace Alliance was created by Erin Kessler last semester to raise awareness for the campaign to make a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence.
“I just feel very passionately about peace in all its forms. I think this group is a wonderful way to implement peace in our everyday lives,” said Kessler, president of the Student Peace Alliance and senior political science major from Missouri City.
The Peace Alliance’s booth also features pre-typed letters addressed to local congressman Randy Neugebauer, asking for his support in the creation of the Department of Peace. Students can sign these letters before the Student Peace Alliance mails them at the end of the week.
International Justice Mission, the group that started Social Justice Week two years prior, is fundraising for their national organization by collecting change in the Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign.
It takes about $100 to free each slave; this money pays for legal costs.
“One-hundred dollars is not used to buy the slave; it shuts down the slave owner,” said Brandon Smith, IJM president and senior international relations major from Kansas City, Kan.
The group is also selling $1 blue bracelets that are inscribed with the word “hope” in several different languages.
“They’re a popular item,” said Ben Word, IJM historian and sophomore political science and vocational missions major from The Colony.
A new aspect of this Social Justice Week is the addition of two booths for outside organizations from the Abilene community. Both Meals on Wheels and Pregnancy Resources of Abilene set up tables to provide information and find volunteers.
Pregnancy Resources of Abilene needs volunteers; anyone interested can call 325-672-6415 for more information. Meals on Wheels is also looking for assistance.
“A lot of ACU students volunteer for this program; they’re great, dependable and do a wonderful job,” said Mitzi McAndrew, the Volunteer Coordinator for Meals on Wheels.
This association provides meals to Abilene’s needy and delivers 1,000 meals a week through 71 different routes. Volunteers work for an hour a week on a route of 12 to 14 stops. Anyone interested in this program can call McAndrew at 325-672-5050, or e-mail her at mmcandrew@mealsonwheelsplus.com.
Across the walkway from the Meals on Wheels booth is a table manned by students who are working to raise funds for the organization. One of the Management 120 business classes is selling $10 T-shirts to benefit the association.
Although this service week ends on Friday, its effects could last into the future.
“It’s amazing how this week is so impactful,” IJM president Smith said. “It helps students to find their calling; they might learn about an organization that will change their whole life path.”
