Malvina Farkle Day Work Wins PRIDE Award

LWC Director of Student Activities Jayne Hopkins displays the PRIDE Environmental
Education Project of the Month Award plaque. She is surrounded by, from left, Adair
County Solid Waste Coordinator A.L. Sinclair, Judge-Executive Anne Melton, PRIDE
Field Representative Mark Davis, and LWC students Katie Easton, Natalie Vickous,
Lydia Tiller, Jessica Rinesmithand Tanner Strein.

The college started the annual Malvina Farkle Day in 1996 to inspire students to make service a permanent part of their lives. It is named for a mythical student and employee who represents a spirit of fun and community service.

This year's Malvina Farkle Day, celebrated on Sept. 22, included LWC  volunteers who picked up litter along Bull Run, Kentucky Highway 55N, Kentucky Highway 80 and Tebbs Bend.

"We see all of Columbia as part of our Lindsey Wilson family, and we view Malvina Farkle Day as a wonderful opportunity for students to experience that sense of community, doing something selfless for someone who is not part of the campus," said LWC Director of Student Activities Jayne Hopkins. "After they leave college, wherever the end up living, we want them to see community service as an integral part of their life."

"By building a day around service, the college is giving students the opportunity to discover the satisfaction of making a difference in their community," said PRIDE's Mark Davis. "That's the first step in developing a life-long commitment to service. This is the kind of project that other schools and organizations, even businesses, can copy if they want to encourage a spirit of community pride and volunteerism."

"Lindsey Wilson is always giving back to the community by volunteerism," said Lisa Lee, the Adair County PRIDE Co-Coordinator who nominated the college for a PRIDE award.

The PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month program rewards creative, effective ways of showing students why and how to care for the environment. PRIDE is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education efforts in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky.