1.  Summarize your chapter’s goals for involvement in the primary and secondary focuses of the Service Hallmark and describe the process by which the chapter set these goals.

      When Sigma Zeta members and officers came together at the beginning of the year, there was much discussion about how best to structure both the Service Hallmark and our year as a whole. After much consideration, the decision was made to create a single slogan to encompass all our activities for the year and give structure to future planning and decision making. This slogan, “Be the Difference” was also qualified in many of our documents throughout the year with an admonition to remember the impact each well-educated, involved student can have. We made it a priority to have sustained, far-reaching and visible impact on our campus, community and region. Moreover, we weren’t satisfied with merely impacting these target groups, we wanted to encourage participation and help them realize each individual’s own capacity to make a positive difference in the world and lives around them.

      To this end, the chapter’s active members and officers decided to focus on two areas of Operation Green: Improving Our Communities. Both Beautification and Clean Communities have the potential for the type of pro-active, visible and engaged projects our slogan urged us to pursue. In particular, we decided to turn our attention to those projects that would encourage our more casual members, as well as the student body as a whole, to be involved—past experience suggested this necessitated concise projects that required only a few hours of most people’s time, while still making an obvious difference. Secondarily, we wanted to focus specifically on needs unique to our campus. Underfunded as so many community colleges are, the need for volunteer aid is great. Since few people seemed likely to be more in touch with these needs than our school’s administration, the chapter hoped to connect with them and use the power of service activities to make a tangible difference in the lives of our fellow students. We also decided to continue our annual tradition of “Harvest Baskets” where we deliver food items for a complete holiday dinner to Lane students who need a little help with provisions for a Thanksgiving meal. 

2.  Using no more than four total examples, describe your chapter’s International Service Program projects (related to Operation Green) that contributed to fulfilling your chapter’s goals for the Service Hallmark.

      In the pursuit of our primary goals, the first piece of the puzzle seemed logical: a road cleanup. Since 2006, our chapter has maintained a large stretch of road outside the campus proper. Each day our school’s student body, as they make their way to campus for another day of learning, have no choice but to pass by this road. Prior to our involvement, this sight was far from pleasant: empty food wrappers and containers, old homework, pieces of Styrofoam… even the occasional cell phone! Although the time of our officers and members sometimes runs the risk of being spread too thin, there was little doubt that this seemingly-simple project offered a myriad of rewards to our campus and community, as well as our members. After all, Keep America Beautiful acknowledges that already accumulated litter serves as a powerful invitation for people to further contribute to the problem. So, in 2007 the chapter renewed its commitment to keep the roadway around our school clean, planning road cleanups at least once per ten-week term. 

      The road cleanup also provided the perfect venue to get others involved, thus meeting another of our goals for the year. Frequently casual members, including some who had never shown interest in any other Phi Theta Kappa event, offered lend their services. We began planning fellowship activities, most frequently potlucks, after each event. Not only were the meals a satisfying reward after a hard day’s work, but the relaxed environment allowed us the opportunity to further share our vision for service with those outside of our core group. The discussion of our chapter’s other projects, both past and present, reinforced the idea that one could make a very real difference in the world around them in only a few hours time. We had several occasions where these potlucks ended in brainstorming sessions involving both officers and the more casual observers, the latter’s enthusiasm thoroughly kindled!

            Our chief Beautification project arose, quite unexpectedly, from our efforts to network surrounding the road cleanup and other service projects on our campus. At the end of the 2006/2007 school year, our advisor and chapter president spent time speaking with a member of our school’s administration. In the process of evaluating what aid our chapter might be able to render the college, a discussion of our previous efforts at beautifying the area around the campus arose. Flowers used merely for aesthetic purposes aren’t often considered a worthwhile use of college funds, but they would do a lot to improve the campus’ appearance. Thus was our beautification project born: the chapter decided to endeavor to plant spring-blooming bulbs at our campus entryway during fall term. It was exactly the type of beautification service project that suited our goals: it encouraged others to be proactive in the improvement of things around them, and it met a need articulated to us by college administration.

      The initial plans were for a small project, but things quickly expanded far beyond what the chapter’s officers ever expected. Our chapter president contacted SOLV, a locally based organization whose goal is to “preserve this treasure called Oregon,” and was able to obtain funds for tools necessary to plant bulbs, as well as additional publicity for our project via their website. In addition, we requested donations from local vendors and had all the necessary bulbs for the project donated by Home Depot and Jerry’s Home Improvement Center. Armed with these generous donations, a group of Phi Theta Kappa members, Lane Community College students and community members convened one brisk October morning to plant the bulbs, and even members of our school’s faculty and staff dropped by periodically to look in on the project!

      In keeping with our goal to impact the wider community with our service projects, as well as to “be the difference” as we did so, our chapter took part in SOLV’s spring beach cleanup. Members joined more than five thousand other volunteers throughout Oregon in removing trash from our scenic public beaches. SOLV estimates that 54 tons of trash was removed from the beach that day. Our chapter contributed several bags, a modest sum in the face of the overall number, but for our members and the friends and family members accompanying them, the several hours of hard work felt worth it! To give participants a chance to enjoy fellowship in the midst of our service activity, we organized a Phi Theta Kappa member and officer retreat. A house near the beach was reserved, and all meals for the weekend were provided to the nine participants who opted to stay, courtesy of funds from our chapter and the wonderful cooking of our president, advisor and president elect!

      After having so enjoyed our involvement with the SOLV beach cleanup and concurrent fellowship weekend, our chapter decided to plan a similar event… this time, however, it would be open to the entire region. The logistics of such an undertaking were quite different than when the weekend encompassed only our chapter: adequate amounts of food had to be purchased for what might be a large gathering, and larger accommodations than we had used previously were necessary. Ever cognizant of the International Service Program, and thus the carbon footprint travel to such things incurs, we encouraged all chapters travelling to the site to carpool. Ultimately, our chapter was joined by members from two other chapters in our region, both chapters who had no plans to participate in the beach cleanup on their own. The enthusiasm of Phi Theta Kappans is unparalleled, and the collective energy of multiple chapters together allowed us to comb a much larger stretch of beach than we had during our sojourn in the spring. After the beach cleanup itself was concluded, participants enjoyed not only fellowship, but rigorous and thoroughly enjoyable leadership training, as well. Our chapter advisor administered the Myers-Briggs test to those who hadn’t yet taken it, and then discussed at length the functions of our individual personality types, and how they influenced our interactions with other members of any team we might be apart of. It was more than merely lecture, however, as each member of the group was encouraged to reflect, question and analyze through frequent exercises.

      

3.  Discuss up to three service projects unrelated to the International Service Program. Include in your response projects relating to your goals for the Service Hallmark.

      For many community college students, the chance to attend school represents the only means by which they’ll be able to increase their economic standing… or, for that matter, be able to feed their families. But what of our campus’ students while they were working on their degrees? It was this question that spurred our next project: Harvest Baskets for particularly needy families on our campus. These baskets, prepared and delivered right before Thanksgiving, included everything one might need for a dinner, ranging from “staples” such as a turkey (or tofu-turkey, for the vegetarian applicant we received) to the smaller but no less necessary ingredients, such as milk. To off-set our costs we solicited, and received, donations from area grocery stores. Our selection process was based upon applications (which described the family’s need) completed by friends and acquaintances of the family in question.

      Our pursuit of the Scholarship Hallmark allowed us another opportunity to “be the difference,” this time within the context of our community. Our advisor and two chapter members journeyed to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, seeking to better understand the power dynamics behind this unique organization, as well as see how this power played out in its day-to-day workings. After receiving briefings on various activities and meeting with ambassadors from two nations, the group returned to our chapter enthused and ready to share the information learned. Amidst the discussions that ensued, we felt motivated to promote the same principles of peace embodied by the U.N.’s mission… but how? What resulted were “Peace Bracelets,” simple bands of beads that bore the word ‘peace.’ With the help of a chapter member skilled in jewelry creation, we created a large number of these bracelets in a myriad of colors and sizes. The proceeds were to go to Womenspace, an organization offering services to victims of domestic violence in our county. These services include a shelter, crisis hotline, community education and legal advocacy. Although not so grand as the efforts for peace seen at the United Nations, they do strive to achieve peace in a very real way within our community. The bracelets were sold during our school’s holiday market, and each included an informational sheet detailing the mission of Womenspace and the resources it offered.

      Through our brainstorming and discussions, we realized that the college administration, as well as many of the student groups on campus, needed additional volunteers for a myriad of campus-wide events. Our chapter decided to volunteer whenever possible to assist these groups in order to make our campus and Sigma Zeta stronger. Lane’s Athletic Department receives no funding for their soccer and baseball programs – programs which help attract and retain students. The department had an opportunity to raise funds by selling refreshments at the University of Oregon home football games, however they didn’t have enough people available to staff the booth. Our chapter volunteered and members worked several hours at each home game.  

4. What were the specific outcomes of your chapter’s involvement with the Service Hallmark, including the impact your projects had on chapter members and others?

      In addition to qualifying as a “Clean Communities” project, our road cleanups allowed us to meet several of the goals underlying our themes for the entire year. Not only were we quite visible while cleaning up the road, something bright orange vests certainly necessitates, but at the midway point of this year a sign was erected by the county attributing the maintenance of the road to our chapter. Every road cleanup has brought chapter members who normally don’t participate in chapter meetings or events. The addition of fellowship (and food) at the end of the cleanups gave us an opportunity to talk further with these members, involve them in our planning processes and invite them to other Sigma Zeta activities. 

      Our chapter planted 648 bulbs for the spring enjoyment of all students, faculty and visitors to campus. The project was not only rewarding, but delighted members of the school’s administration as well. However, we found the success of this project wasn’t limited to the number of beautiful flowers which will bloom in the spring, but also the positive impact it had on our chapter members as we joined together as a team, exercised leadership and project management skills, and worked with local vendors and college administration. We had not only beautified campus, but increased our visibility in the community and around campus and had an opportunity to practice the leadership and teamwork skills we had been learning.

      Our participation in the beach cleanups gave us an opportunity not only to join with thousands of other volunteers in picking up tons of litter from Oregon beaches, but enabled us to enjoy fellowship in a much needed retreat. Fueled by the success of our spring beach cleanup, we invited other chapters in our region to join us in the fall cleanup. We were able to cover more beach and pickup more litter as a larger group after being joined by members of other chapters. Hosting the regional event gave us an opportunity to fellowship, share goals and plans for the year, and work on leadership skills.

      The Harvest Baskets, like the bulb planting, gave us an opportunity to work as a team and with local vendors to successfully take complete Thanksgiving meals to 22 families of our students. In this case, however, we did measure our success by the number of families we helped for the holiday!

      Our “surprise” service project, the creation and sale of peace bracelets inspired by our trip to the United Nations, has been very rewarding. The bracelets serve to remind us of the difference we can make in our world. We’ve helped inform the public about the mission of Womenspace and the resources it offers through the sale of the bracelets.  Although the fundraiser is still ongoing, thus far chapter efforts have raised over $100.

      Our chapter helped raise over $4,000 for Lane’s Athletic Department by selling refreshments at the University of Oregon home games. We are pleased that our efforts will help students who participate in the soccer and baseball programs at Lane. We also know that our experiences in working to strengthen other campus groups make us, our campus and our community stronger.

      Our service activities this year have made us an integral part of the campus community. We have learned a tremendous amount from working with the college administration and local vendors. We cleaned and beautified our environment, helped our community and campus groups and reinforced the idea that one could make a very real difference in the world around them in only a few hours time.