Staff Profile
Robert Hackett
From the Heart of The Bonner Foundation: Elaine ...

In celebration of Elaine Wheeler's retirement, we honor her invaluable contribution to the Bonner Foundation. Her commitment and mentorship have been instrumental in our growth as a Foundation and the Network we have today. As she embarks on her retirement, we celebrate her legacy of dedication and look forward to the path she has paved for us.

From the Heart of The Bonner Foundation: Elaine Wheeler's Retirement Celebration
Robert Hackett
Announcing the Refreshed Bonner Wiki

With over three decades sharing campus examples, guides, and documents to download, the Bonner Foundation is excited to announce a recently updated Bonner Resources Wiki.

This summer, the five National Bonner Summer Interns at the Foundation — Anu Baskar (George Mason ‘24), Camila Guayasamin (The College of New Jersey ‘24), Dominique Dore (University of Houston ‘22), Mikaela Chin (High Point University ‘24) and Selah Ndouta (Capital University ‘22) — worked with the Foundation staff to refresh the look of the wiki’s homepage and, more importantly, update campus examples and other documents.

They devoted particularly attention to the Bonner Program Management and Community-Engaged Learning sections. In addition, Mikaela and Dominique also created a short video on how to navigate this wealth of knowledge.

Announcing the Refreshed Bonner Wiki

Mamta Gurung Named Public Health Fellow

Mamta Gurung Named Public Health Fellow

Mamta Gurung ’18, who is majoring in accounting, has been named the first Bonner Center Public Health Fellow in recognition of her work, including tutoring, mentoring and educating, members of international and immigrant communities.

The purpose of this new fellowship is to draw attention to significant health issues that can no longer be classed as local or international but must be regarded in an ever-shrinking world as both. Therefore, the Public Health Fellow is charged with exploring mentored, real-world experiences located here in the region and internationally.

Bonner Scholar Lives out Boy Scout Slogan

Bonner Scholar Lives out Boy Scout Slogan

oseph "Joey" Courtney exudes a volunteer spirit as he heeds the call to serve in the Boy Scouts of America, living out the Boy Scout slogan "Do a good turn daily."

Courtney, a 19-year-old sophomore at Maryville College, hails from Knoxville, Tenn. He is a Bonner Scholar who volunteers at least 40 hours per month in exchange for scholarship monies to apply toward tuition and books.

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Guilford Attends N.C. Heritage Awards Ceremony

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Guilford Attends N.C. Heritage Awards Ceremony

The 2016 North Carolina Heritage Awards recognized traditional backstrap weavers H Ju Nie and H Ngach Rahlan, who are Bonner Center community partners.

Since both Greensboro weavers are elderly, Bonner Center Volunteer Training Coordinator Andrew Young and his wife, Betsy Renfrew, herself a weaving expert, accompanied the artists to the North Carolina Executive Mansion for dinner May 24 with Gov. Pat McCrory, N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz, and N.C. Arts Council Executive Director Wayne Martin.

Student Help Homeless on Trip to NYC

Student Help Homeless on Trip to NYC

Seventeen Emory & Henry College students travelled to New York City in March to assist in projects related to hunger and homelessness.

The students, who are E&H Bonner Scholars, sorted and distributed food in large-scale food pantries, cooked and served meals to homeless guests, and assisted in childcare facilities. Bonner Scholars are awarded scholarship in recognition of their commitments to service.

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Bonner Scholars Assist with Carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia

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Bonner Scholars Assist with Carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia

Being born and raised in Tazewell County in Southwest Virginia, I know first-hand the struggles and challenges that living in a coal mining community can have on every aspect of human life.

A nearby town in McDowell County, W. Va., also knows the challenges of this lifestyle all too well. War, a once booming coal mining town and the place to go in the 1940s, is now a ghost town due to the trickle-down effect of losing the major economic sector of the community.

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A Hunger to Help

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A Hunger to Help

Not long after Helen Mandalinic ’14 arrived at Guilford in 2010, she began volunteering with the Community Kitchens Project, a program that packages cafeteria leftovers into meals and delivers those meals to the area’s needy.

She quickly realized her passion for service didn’t need to be put on hold for her studies, and her education at Guilford would extend beyond the classroom and the campus.

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Public Policy Site Debuts as Resource for Community

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Public Policy Site Debuts as Resource for Community

     People in the Davidson area and beyond who are interested in public policy now have a great new resource, thanks to the college's Bonner Scholars. The Bonner Scholars recently unveiled their latest project–a comprehensive website called PolicyOptions.org focused on bringing together in one place information regarding public policy, policy changes and social services.
     Naomi Coffman '16 and Rashaun Bennett '16 are the Bonners primarily responsible for keeping the website up to date.
     The project began at Davidson in the fall of 2013. Kristin Booher of the Center for Civic Engagement office encouraged Coffman, along with Zoe Williams '14 and Philip Yu '16, to get involved, and Coffman immediately saw the potential.

Sewanee Bonner is "Opening the Scope of Masculinity" for High Schoolers

Sewanee Bonner is "Opening the Scope of Masculinity" for High Schoolers

For the last two years, Davis and his fellow Sewanee student leaders have gathered groups of boys at Grundy County High twice a week for this program, which they named “Man Up.” Davis is a Bonner Leader, a participant in a service internship and leadership program that sends students into Sewanee and neighboring communities to serve in a variety of ways. Davis and other Bonner Leaders founded the Man Up program in 2014 after talking to another Bonner Leader who had started a regular women’s empowerment luncheon at GCHS and thought the boys in the school could use a program made just for them.

Davidson Students Serve and Learn During Trip to Selma

Davidson Students Serve and Learn During Trip to Selma

"We went on our Alternative Break (AB) trip to help teach schoolchildren, but I think we learned more than they did," said senior Bonner Scholar Rebecca Worrell.
Worrell and 13 other Davidson students went to Selma, Ala., for spring break. During five busy days they worked at three schools, visited sites that are historically significant to the Civil Rights Movement and participated in non-violence training courses.

Bonner Scholar Develops Saturday Reading Program

Bonner Scholar Develops Saturday Reading Program

Kindergarten student Quentin Larkey rarely missed an opportunity to read books each Saturday morning this semester with Emory & Henry students who volunteered at a children’s reading program at the Glade Spring Library.

His mother, Rachel Larkey, said her son was very excited to attend the reading program each week. “Toward the end of the semester, he was already reading easy readers. It helped him tremendously with his skills.”

Tusculum Students Talk about Their Spring Break Service Trip

Tusculum Students Talk about Their Spring Break Service Trip

    In early March, students from Tusculum College’s Bonner Leader program participated in an alternative spring break that included a focus on service, rather than surf time.
    The students took a trip to Orlando, Fla., where they stayed with members of the College Park Baptist          Church and took part in activities that benefited the community. Due to the onset of snow, they arrived a day late to Florida but they were nonetheless excited to start their spring break and volunteering, according to Ronda Gentry, director of the Center for Civic Advancement at the college.

Centre's Bonner Program Places First-Year Students

Centre's Bonner Program Places First-Year Students

Among the typical fall-term conversations about mid-terms and the upcoming fall break, other important conversations are being had by first-year Bonner students: in particular, where they will be performing up to 2,000 hours of community service in the years ahead.

Centre currently hosts up to 60 Bonner students on campus, each of whom have a specific service site they work at every week. Bonners are dedicated to addressing a variety of social issues, including poverty, diversity, access to education and/or healthcare and community development. Bonners work to solve these problems in the Danville and Boyle County community through eight to 10 hours of community service per week—a hefty commitment when added to demanding course loads and extracurricular activities.

Stetson's VITA Program Celebrates $1 Million in Tax Refunds

Stetson's VITA Program Celebrates $1 Million in Tax Refunds

      Stetson University students who volunteer as income tax preparers for local families, reached a major milestone on the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 2016: $1 million in total tax refunds.
      Through the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, Stetson students are trained to become IRS-certified tax preparation agents who help prepare and file tax returns for families with an income limit up to $54,000.
      After six years of operation, the VITA Program just reached its one-millionth dollar in total tax refunds during the Wednesday night session.

Richmond Student Exemplifies Servant Leadership Through Her Work with Children and Education

Richmond Student Exemplifies Servant Leadership Through Her Work with Children and Education

The Bonner Scholars Program and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies sold Colleen Connolly, '14, on the University of Richmond when she visited campus as a high school student. Now Connolly is combining a double major in leadership studies and political science with her Bonner Scholars service in order to study children in educational settings from many different perspectives. In the process, she has learned not only how to serve, but how to lead.

Washington Monthly Rankings Showcase Centre's Commitment to Service

Washington Monthly Rankings Showcase Centre's Commitment to Service

Centre continues to climb the Washington Monthly’s annual rankings of the nation’s top 255 liberal arts colleges, ascending from #36 to #35 and marking its fourth year in a row holding a top-50 spot.

Unlike other ranking systems, which often focus on campus life or academic rigor, Washington Monthly magazine analyzes a college’s “contribution to the public good” in three different categories; as its website states, overall rankings “reflect excellence across the full breadth of our measures” rather than excellence in one category alone.

Teach for America and Berea College: A Continuing Partnership

Teach for America and Berea College: A Continuing Partnership

Taylor Ballinger, ’07, had a very influential friend during his undergraduate education at Berea College. This friend was a special needs child who was a member of the Berea Buddies program, which pairs Berea student mentors with children from the community. Ballinger saw in this child the same boundless potential that Berea College had recognized in himself. Their close relationship inspired Ballinger to pursue a future as a special education teacher with Teach for
America (TFA).

Richmond Student Works with City Government on Poverty Issues

Richmond Student Works with City Government on Poverty Issues

Kevin Wilson, ’13, embraces political and government service as a means of working for the betterment of society.

During his senior year in high school, the Franklinville, N.J., native served as an advisor to President Barack Obama’s election campaign and as a member of Obama’s transition team. Following his high school graduation, he worked as a summer consultant for the Domestic Policy Council, which oversees the development and implementation of the president’s domestic-policy agenda.

 

Berea Student Launches "Cans for a Cause"

Berea Student Launches "Cans for a Cause"

Never accuse Aaron Hannah of not being ambitious and failing to set high goals for himself.

Later this month, Hannah, a 19-year-old 2012 graduate of Raceland-Worthington High School, will launch what is essentially a one-man food drive. His goal: to collect at least 10,000 pounds of canned food for River Cities Harvest to distribute to local nonprofits and churches that help feed the hungry.

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Centre Bonner Student Recognized for Outstanding Community Service

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Centre Bonner Student Recognized for Outstanding Community Service

As a member of Centre College’s Bonner program, Megan Radenhausen ’14 is no stranger to community service; however, she took the College’s culture of service to a new level this past fall semester, logging 1,300 hours at Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center (BRCC), a feat which earned her BRCC’s volunteerism commitment award.

BRCC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide refuge for victims of sexual assault, to advocate for victims and to educate the community about sexual assault and human trafficking. BRCC provides crisis intervention, therapy, advocacy and education services to 17 counties in the Bluegrass Region. All services offered are free of charge, including a 24-hour hotline.

Students Donate 7,000 Service Hours to Downtown Danville

Students Donate 7,000 Service Hours to Downtown Danville

Service is a major component of the Centre experience, and many students went out of their way recently to give back to the local community.

Students in the Bonner Scholars Program and Centre Action Reaches Everyone (CARE) donated 7,000 hours of service to the downtown area of Danville alone in the calendar year of 2012. With many students eager to give their time and several important agencies just minutes from campus, things come together naturally.