Embracing CommUNITY

Acts of Service Impact Gardner-Webb Campus and Extend to International Neighbors

At Gardner-Webb University, service is woven into the fabric of the campus community. From classrooms and club meetingsto athletic fields and courts, the University’s motto, “Pro Deo et Humanitate”—for God and Humanity—is more than words first engraved on the 1928 GWU seal. It’s a call to action that impacts the surrounding community, the nation and the globe.

“Serving God and Humanity is a high priority and of utmost importance for us,” Vice President and University Chaplain for Christian Life and Service Dr. Josh Parrott observed. “I’m thankful for and inspired by students who continually look for opportunities to follow the pattern of service left to us by King Jesus.”

Like a magnet, the servant attitude attracts students, faculty and staff to the University. The newest Tucker Scholar, Lily Streeton, of High Point, N.C., sensed it when she came for her scholarship interview. “I can see how everyone cares about each other, and they put God first as well,” Streeton asserted. “I’m looking forward to meeting new people, having new experiences, seeing other communities that I can get involved in, and finding some additional family.”

Streeton has plenty of options—and the descriptions that follow are a mere snapshot of all the ways Gardner-Webb promotes community.

This year, students, staff and faculty participated in mission trips to Florida, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Kentucky, New Mexico, and Guatemala, where they performed various jobs in hospitality, construction, medical clinics and ministry.

Hope Saunders, Gardner-Webb assistant director of Student Engagement, noted that in 2023-24 there were 37 clubs on campus. They hosted 48 service events, engaged 541 unique club members, and sponsored a total of 861 events for members.

Service is built into the UNIV 111 curriculum, a course that introduces first-year students to college life and promotes personal and academic development. On average, these students complete over 800 hours of community service each year.

For three years now, Gardner-Webb and the Town of Boiling Springs celebrate the Town-Gown partnership with an all-day street festival, Webbstock. The event continues to grow, drawing local vendors and bringing the campus, community and region together for free music performances.

Many groups and athletic teams lend a helping hand to the Boiling Springs, N.C., Community Garden. Organized in 2022 by individuals and churches, garden members grow and share fruits and vegetables with people in need or local food ministries.

Garden representative Don Pittman shared how GWU football players worked in the garden to put down landscape fabric, install 25 raised garden beds and fill the plots with soil. At least five other GWU groups, teams or clubs volunteered to work that first year.

Since then, various groups ranging in number from five to 25 planted seeds, pulled weeds, constructed additional raised garden plots, assisted with construction of a wheelchair ramp, placed pavers for handicapped access to the garden, and helped to install an irrigation system. Gardner-Webb students created T-shirt and location sign designs for the garden. The University has also provided monetary support. Pittman asserted, “We consider GWU to be a Boiling Springs Community Garden partner.”

Gardner-Webb students and student-athletes also encourage school children. On most Fridays during the academic year, student-athletes visit one or both local elementary schools to encourage these children to celebrate learning opportunities. Other teams and groups go regularly to read, do homework or play with the children at the Boys and Girls Club in Shelby, N.C., or the satellite club at Springmore Elementary in Boiling Springs.

Shortly after new Head Football Coach Cris Reisert arrived on campus, he arranged for the football team to “paint the town red.” The players went to read and play with children at Springmore and Boiling Springs elementary schools. Reisert said, “It was incredible to see the impact our players had on those they served and to see the impact that was made on our players.”

In the 2023 Fall Semester, members of the GWU softball team volunteered 227 hours at the Boys and Girls Club in Shelby and served another 300 hours doing various projects in the community. Head Coach Bailey Wigness said the team enjoys their time at the club.

“Kids look up to college athletes, and I am proud of how this team is using their platform,” Wigness affirmed. “The game of softball has given us all so much; it is important to me that we never take that for granted and give something back whenever we can. At some point softball will end for us all, but the impact we can make on others’ lives will last forever.”

Softball team member Taylor Perry explained what spending time at the club means to her. “I feel blessed to contribute to the growth and well-being of the kids within the community,” she shared. “The joy and gratitude reflected in the children’s voices makes every moment spent at the club a truly rewarding and humbling privilege.”

“I always look forward to working with GWU students. This partnership that has been created is much appreciated and much needed. Working with caring young people is a blessing.”

Jada Hardin, volunteer coordinator for Feeding Kids Cleveland County

While investing time with young children brings immediate recognition, serving in menial, less noticeable ways often brings no acknowledgement. The Student Government Association (SGA) and the revamped Fellowship of Christians United in Service (FOCUS) sponsor and volunteer for campus clean-up days. They pick up litter and fish trash out of the creek. Their only visible reward is muddy shoes, dusty faces and dirty clothes.

FOCUS Co-coordinator Anna Sample said offering service events on campus helped to revitalize this group that before had one main purpose: to lead youth retreats for local churches. When Sample took on her role, she knew her job would be to inject new life into the dwindling ministry.

Trevor Wester agreed to help coordinate, and they recruited others to serve on a leadership team and participate in various ways. They soon had a list of people who wanted to help, from picking up trash to leading worship. For each event, they sent out an email requesting help, and volunteers responded.

Sophomore Kate Harrison joined the FOCUS ministry team. She affirmed, “I serve, because it is an honor to have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus out of an overflow of His love towards us.”

SGA members also volunteer 320 hours per academic year to pack bags of groceries for children they don’t know. The bags are distributed by Feeding Kids Cleveland County to families who struggle to provide food whenever children are home on the weekends and during school breaks.

Jalen Fearrington, a senator at large, said participating in the act of service is uplifting. If he’s had a bad day, packing food changes his whole attitude. “It’s a pleasure to be able to just help kids,” he asserted. “We take things for granted, but this brightens my day to help them get food and be a part of the process, because helping other SGA members is also a bonding experience.”

Jada Hardin is the volunteer coordinator for Feeding Kids Cleveland County. There are several jobs to be done at the organization’s warehouse, such as pack snack bags and delivery boxes, put cardboard boxes together, deliver food boxes and books, process books, clean the building, stock shelves, collect food and various other tasks.

She’s had numerous opportunities to work with students from Gardner-Webb—from undergraduate to graduate students and student-athletes in all programs. “Our success in feeding kids all over Cleveland County is due to all the volunteers that have helped us through the years, and the GWU students have played a big part,” Hardin asserted. “I can truly say that working with the GWU students has always been a joy. They are hard workers, very polite and respectful to me as well as each other.”

Hardin added, “I always look forward to working with GWU students. This partnership that has been created is much appreciated and much needed. Working with caring young people is a blessing. We at Feeding Kids appreciate and would like to say to all the staff that have contacted us to set up volunteer opportunities for their students, ‘Thank you and please continue.’”

On the pages that follow, you’ll be introduced to:

• Students and student-athletes, who engage and inspire the campus and community.
• Faculty and staff, who teach, mentor and model service and leadership.
• Alumni, who carry the University’s mission into their homes, workplaces and communities.