| II.
The Bonner Program: Goals & Strategies
C. Program Components
2. Community Partnerships
Instead of focusing mainly on the number
of hours a campus dedicates to service each year, the Bonner
Program strives to emphasize the quality and investment of
relationships that exist when students make long-term, meaningful
commitments to the community.
a. Comprehensive Placement Process
The Comprehensive Placement Process not
only includes tools for quantifying the number of hours
of direct and indirect service completed but also offers
techniques for setting service and learning goals that can
be tracked throughout the year. At the heart of this process
stands the Community Learning Agreement. The individual
student develops this with assistance from their program
coordinator and community site supervisor. They discuss
what the student hopes to accomplish and gain through his
or her service as well as how the site will utilize the
student’s skills, passions, and interests. Throughout
the year, the Community Learning Agreement is used to assess
progress towards objectives, make adjustments, and create
new program objectives. Community partners benefits through
this process as they support the service of the students
in ways that addresses the most pressing needs of the community.
b. Community Fund
As students engage in their community
activities, they often identify needs, which will require
financial resources to address. For every Bonner Scholar,
$100 is contributed to a school’s Community Fund.
From this fund, money is available to organizations and
agencies that work with the students participating in the
Scholars Program. Students and others are part of the application,
reviewing, and awarding process.
c. Bonner
Partners
The Partnership
Program was created as a way in which to forge relationships
among the Bonner Foundation, Bonner Scholars and the “Bonner”
campuses with select regional, national, and international
service organizations. The Bonner Foundation envisions many
ways in which “our” community and Partner communities
can benefit one another. Through the Partners Program, it
is the Foundation’s hope that new and innovative collaborative
efforts will be developed to effectively engage young people
in service. Currently 75 nonprofits in 22 states representing
13 issue areas compose the Bonner Partner Program.
Opportunities for collaboration include
but are not limited to the following:
- Hosting a Bonner Scholar in an internship position.
- Participating in funding opportunities in partnership
with the Bonner Foundation and campuses.
- Becoming involved in the training curriculum: Each campus
coordinates training in both personal and skill development
for Bonner Scholars. Partner organizations would be invited
to participate in these trainings as well as asked to
conduct trainings where applicable.
- Becoming involved in Bonner School Break Projects.
- Participating in meetings and retreats as workshop presenters
and speakers.
- Recruiting Bonner Scholars upon their graduation for
full-time employment.
d. Bonner
Connection
The Bonner Foundation is out to make connections
between the Bonner Scholars Program and the Foundation’s
our fight against hunger.
The Crisis
Ministry Program’s mission is to provide food
for the hungry while encouraging congregations to build
relationships and strengthen their outreach program, especially
throlugh increased involvement of the church members and
the entire community. The Crisis Ministry Program provides
grants to ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to religious, community-based
hunger relief programs across the country over the last
four years. These programs are chosen based on two criteria:
financial need and commitment to addressing hunger issues
in their local area.
Because the Foundation is particularly
interested in the communities where Bonner Scholars are
located, we seek to support the fight against hunger in
your area. We ask for your help in identifying worthy agencies
that are providing food and supplies to people who are in
need. The Foundation is requesting that you identify a church
related-organization that delivers food and household supplies
to people in need in your local community. Our goal is to
support at least one agency in each of the twenty-four Bonner
Scholar communities.
e. Micah
6
The Micah 6 Project originated in 1999
as an initiative of the National Council of Churches and
the Bonner Foundation, through the NCC Economic Justice
and Domestic Hunger Program. Micah 6 is a challenge for
college students and congregations to serve together, seeking
local expressions of justice, service and spiritual enrichment
in their communities. Following a two-year pilot program,
the NCC continues working with Micah 6 congregations around
the country, and the Bonner Foundation continues to give
support and guidance to a network of college-based Micah
6 partnerships.
f. Community-Based
Research
With financial support from the Corporation
for National Service’s Learn & Serve America Program,
the Bonner Foundation sponsors the National Higher Education
Community-Based Research Project. The goal of the project
is to recruit and support faculty who will incorporate a
community-based research component into an academic course,
to assist campuses in creating campus-based Community Research
Centers, and to create local and a national network of campus
and community groups engaged in community-based research.
Resource Documents
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