Lindsey Wilson College Gives Day of Service To Community
COLUMBIA, KY - Lindsey Wilson College staff member Alaina Phelps got to see Malvina Farkle Day from a different perspective.
For the last four years, Phelps had been involved with LWC's annual day of service as a student. But as the college's new Bonner Program coordinator, she saw the event from another perspective when it was held on Wednesday.
"It’s an excitement, eagerness, and a joy to serve like I’ve never felt before," said Phelps. "As a new member of the college staff, I had more to manage because I was leading a project, but the feeling I got was still just the same as when I was a student.”
Malvina Farkle Day is an annual day of community service at LWC. Classes are canceled and offices are closed so students, faculty and staff can participate in community-service projects. The day is named in memory of a mythical and legendary Lindsey Wilson alumna and staff member who was known for her community spirit and practical jokes.
"I think Malvina Farkle Day is important to the community because so many of our community members support Lindsey Wilson and a lot of our community is in need of assistance," said Phelps. "We take pride in our home away from home and Malvina Farkle Day is a way to show the pride we have for this town and our school."
This year's Malvina Farkle Day community-service projects included more than four dozen sites in Columbia-Adair County.
“Malvina Farkle Day is a day when we take a timeout and remind ourselves that it is not just about us,” LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. told students, faculty and staff in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center shortly before canceling classes for the day. "We are like a small city on top of a hill and we have an opportunity to impact this community in an incredible way."
And Luckey said that this day of service is an important part of Lindsey Wilson’s identity.
"This day represents an important part of what we do at this college -- community service and trying to go out and make a difference in the world," said Luckey.
Nursing freshman Kayla Young from Campbellsville, Ky., volunteered at the Adair County Primary Center washing windows with the LWC volleyball team.
“I had heard about Malvina Farkle Day from my friends in Bonner and on the volleyball team,” Young said. “Besides having to wake up really early, I had a great time and I can’t wait until next year.”
Phelps, who served as a Bonner Scholar during her time as a student, says one of the long-term benefits of Malvina Farkle Day is that it helps new students integrate into college life and learn more about Columbia and Adair County.
“Not only do we complete service projects on our campus, but for all the students who get up and serve, no matter how dreadful it is to wake up that early, they bond,” said Phelps. “It’s an eye-opening, bonding experience to serve in the community that is now your home. It’s like seeing a new side of where you live. Malvina Farkle Day creates a community while serving others, and it’s beautiful.”
• Enjoy a photo scrapbook of campus and community scenes from 2018 Malvina Farkle Day
• Learn more about civic engagement at Lindsey Wilson College
• Apply to Lindsey Wilson College