Bucknell Community Engagement Newsletter - November 2024

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

Center Happenings:

It's been a very busy start to the semester for our Center! Our first event in September was a Dinner & Dialogue event hosted in collaboration with Rose Williams, Founder of Getting Ahead Foundation. Participants spent time eating and discussing the broad question "Which is more challenging: living with low-income in a rural setting or in an urban setting?" Folks talked about the differences and similarities of living with low-income in different settings, systemic root causes of poverty, and how the many different resources in one's life contribute to health and well-being.

We hosted a Lunch and Learn featuring Stephanie Reitmeyer from the Susquehanna Valley United Way, who presented on "Understanding Trauma, ACEs and Resiliency". Stephanie reminded us of the impact of trauma on the developing brain, how to recognize trauma, and the some components of trauma-informed care (TIC).

In October we hosted two internship Lunch Panels, one featuring our new Summer Community Impact Assistant Internship Program and the other our long-standing Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP) Internship Program. Bucknell students shared at both lunches about their summer experiences, including their learning and expanded understanding of local and national communities as they worked with non-profits. SHECP applications are now open for Summer of 2025.

Coming Soon! Applications from community partners will be accepted beginning late November '24 through January '25 for consideration for our Summer '25 Community Impact Assistant Student Internship Program. This 8-week paid summer internship program partners Bucknell University students with local nonprofit partners to work on-site with the partner organization on a community identified priority in our region for up to 40 hours/ week. More information will follow in the December '24 newsletter. For questions, contact: Stacey Piecuch, Assistant Director for Community Engagement Leadership, sjp022@bucknell.edu, 570-577-2089

We also hosted a "I can't believe you/I said that!" workshop in collaboration with Susan Jordan, Executive Director of Susquehanna Valley Mediation. The interactive workshop allowed participants to explore communication and disagreement through the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale that measures the level of contempt or dignity in speech. Attendees practiced identifying how dignified (or not) comments can be and how to re-frame thinking to ensure we treat each other with dignity, especially during election season.

Our Food Team attended the Community Action Association of PA (CAAP)'s annual conference in Lancaster. The theme was It Starts With Us. The team enjoyed the keynote speaker, Dr. Leia Belt, how talked about the history of sundown towns and their legacy on the country. Sundown towns are defined as"...any organized jurisdictions that employed violence to enforce exclusionary and segregation policies against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)..." (Academy of Health). Click here to see an interactive map of sundown towns in the US. Our team was happy to support our partner, Central Susquehanna Opportunites, Inc. (CSO) as they presented on their new Mobile Food Pantry partnership with Geisinger and Giant.

We are looking forward to our annual Turkey & Trimmings program in November and an end of year celebration in December.

Another way to support the community-identified priority of food security is to donate to our weekly meal program, Community Harvest.

Turkey and Trimmings: Bucknell’s annual Turkey and Trimmings Program will be held in November, and the Center for Community Engaged Leadership, Learning & Research is asking for help to build food security in our area by putting together a basket of non-perishable food items for a family of four or more. If you'd like to participate, please review the guidelines and fill out this google form. Then you can use this Engaged Bucknell page to sign- up for a time slot to drop off your basket. Please reach out to Shelly Sholley at mls058@bucknell.edu if you would like any more information.

Celebration Villa of Lewisburg is looking for volunteers to engage with their senior residents during upcoming November events and activities. Opportunities to register and volunteer at an event are listed on Engaged Bucknell and include Bingo events on Nov. 9th and Nov. 30th, Crafting Button Trees on Nov. 16th, a Memory Care Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 18th, Casino Night for PC Residents on Nov. 22nd, and a Paint and Sip on Nov. 29th.

Camp Victory is hosting a Turkey Dinner fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 10th from 11:30-2:30pm and also has registration on Engaged Bucknell for volunteers to assist (11-4pm).

Girls on the Run Mid-State PA will celebrate their Fall ‘24 Season with a 5K event at the Miller Center on Nov. 23rd from 8-11am, and has a volunteer registration on Engaged Bucknell.

Snack Pack volunteer opportunity: Sign up on Engaged Bucknell to volunteer to help pack snacks for local elementary and middle school students who qualify for free or reduced lunch on Tues. Nov. 5th and Tues. Dec. 3rd (9-10:30am.

Volunteer to support a Food Program: Opportunities are listed on Engaged Bucknell with the Union-Snyder Food Hub opportunities, including at Food Distributions in McClure, Selinsgrove, Lewisburg and also Lewisburg Penn Commons Apartments and Mifflinburg and also Food Hub Box Packing opportunities for set up or packing. In addition, you can register to volunteer at the Bucknell Farm on Wednesdays and Fridays through Nov. 6th or register to help prepare and distribute a fresh hot meal on Monday afternoons for the Community Harvest program,

Bucknell Faculty: The Center for Community Engaged Leadership, Learning & Research (CELLR), we would like to hear from you! If you have conducted and/or published research involving community engagement during the time period 2021-now, would you please take a moment to complete this Google Form? You will be asked for the citation of your research.