UNC News Services
In projects ranging from representing victims of domestic violence to providing income tax filing assistance, students at UNC are continuing a tradition of public service in North Carolina with the help of Seagraves Service Grants.
The Carolina Center for Public Service recently presented the grants to eight student organizations to support public service projects addressing identifiable needs statewide. The projects, detailed below, are in keeping with UNC’s longstanding commitment to public service and engagement.
The grants to officially recognized UNC student organizations are funded through the support of a UNC alumnus in honor of his grandmother, Mildred Yeager Seagraves. Now in its fourth year, the program will continue to provide a total of $3,000 annually to student organizations for at least one more year. Grantees receive up to $300 to fund their proposed service projects during the 2007-08 academic year.
The following projects received funding this year:
- The American Medical Association Medical Student Section is partnering with Grady A. Brown Elementary School in Hillsborough to continue the “Improving Meals and Physical Activity in Children and Teenagers†program, in which specially trained medical students lead 12 weekly sessions to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among the elementary students.
- The Carolina Pre-Medical Association hosted an interactive health fair for 100 children in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA after-school program in November to educate children about obesity, nutrition, physical activity, personal hygiene and cold/flu prevention.
- The Domestic Violence Action Project in the UNC School of Law works with Legal Aid of North Carolina to provide free legal representation to victims of domestic violence who are seeking a civil domestic violence protective order.
- The grant helped Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. provide Thanksgiving turkeys to 55 low-income families in the Trinity Court/Prichard Park community.
- Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity and the Orange County Fire Department are distributing 600 “Vials of LIFE†– kits containing medical information for first responders during a medical emergency – to senior citizens, individuals with a chronic illness and those living alone in Orange County.
- The Native Health Initiative brought 20 to 25 American Indian teenagers to UNC-Pembroke for a six-hour interactive workshop in November to inspire them to pursue a career in the health care field.
- Presbyterian Campus Ministry, in partnership with the Church of Reconciliation, will enhance and strengthen its existing Elliott Woods tutoring program by providing two field trips (one fall and one spring) for these elementary and middle school students.
- Student Poverty Reduction Outreach (SPROUT) and the Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill will provide free income tax filing assistance to low-income individuals.