LINDSBORG, Kan.—On August 30, more than 60 Bethany College students, staff and friends traveled to Greensburg, Kansas to help with tornado recovery efforts for the second straight year.
For one student, it was a trip home.
“It feels really good to be helping in my hometown. You drive around and see volunteers working everywhere, and it’s cool to be one of those this time,” said Greensburg High School graduate Sara McVay, whose family lost its house in the 2007 tornado.
“I stayed in town, and people were talking about it the next day at church,” she said.
McVay is a freshman biology major at Bethany, where she is a member of the tennis team.
Bethany volunteers primed and painted new homes; helped prepare a house for demolition; used a jackhammer to remove old concrete; and poured new concrete.
Participating in the Saturday event were freshmen and returning students at Bethany; volunteers from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salina; and Bethany student-athletes, including members of the Bethany golf team, volleyball team and women’s basketball team.
“It’s a good thing we decided to do with our team,” said Kevin Walters, a senior golfer from Gilbert, Ariz. He said the team made the choice “for team bonding, and to help out a good cause.”
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| Members of the men’s golf team at Bethany helped prepare a house for demolition in Greensburg. |
“We hope to show these young guys that it’s a lot more beneficial to them to give than to receive,” explained Jon Daniels, Bethany athletic director and head golf coach.
The all-volunteer trip was coordinated by Campus Pastor Noni Strand in conjunction with the college’s orientation activities. “It’s so important to be a servant leader,” said Strand, and this trip is “how we can help our students to start that from the very first week they’re on campus.”
Students from last year’s trip noted how much progress has been made in Greensburg. “Before you could see all the way across town,” said sophomore Isaac Chambers. He remembered holes where the foundations of houses used to be. “Now there’s houses going up everywhere,” he said.
The service work also helped students grow personally. “It makes you feel so much more grateful for what you have in your life. You come here and you see all the destruction that could happen in one day, and then how they still picked up their lives and carried on…it makes you feel like the small things in your life can be overcome,” said sophomore Jeni Schwandt from Liberty, Mo.
Student participants in the trip, listed by their home state or country, included:
Brock Bullard, sophomore from Blytheville, Ark.
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| Volleyball student-athlete Josie Schamp helped remove concrete. |
Kevin Walters, senior from Gilbert, Ariz.
Ashley Pfenninger, sophomore from Arvada, Colo.
Alex Overstreet, freshman from Arvada, Colo.
Josie Schamp, sophomore from Arvada, Colo.
Caylie Burt, freshman from Bennington, Colo.
Calli Babi, freshman from Bennett, Colo.
Catherine Spicer, freshman from Bennett, Colo.
Ryan Green, freshman from Calhan, Co.
Jackie Steinle, freshman from Fort Collins, Co.
Jeffrey Aspegren, freshman from Lakewood, Colo.
Ansley Elwood, freshman from Longmont, Colo.
Jenny Hinman, senior from Longmont, Colo.
Hannah Petersen, freshman from Loveland, Colo.
Roni Whitman, senior from Peetz, Colo.
Jessica Thelen, freshman from Strasburg, Colo.
Stephanie Schell, freshman from Westminster, Colo.
Samantha Reeves, sophomore from Wray, Colo.
Hannah Hemberger, freshman from Argonia, Kan.
Elissa Stein, freshman from Assaria, Kan.
Katelin Clawson, freshman from Ellinwood, Kan.
Sara McVay, freshman from Greensburg, Kan.
Courtney Barger, freshman from Hoyt, Kan.
Bradly Harting, freshman from Hoisington, Kan.
Mark Bengston, sophomore from Lindsborg, Kan.
Isaac Chambers, junior from Lindsborg, Kan.
Chock Hefner, sophomore from Lindsborg, Kan.
Hannah Wilson, freshman from Lyndon, Kan.
Kelsey Cavit, senior from Lyons, Kan.
Sam Klaassen, freshman from Marquette, Kan.
Gabe Moore, transfer student from Oberlin, Kan.
Melisa Thomason, freshman from Oneida, Kan.
Jaycee Gfeller, sophomore from Russell, Kan.
Kaleb Feist, freshman from Salina, Kan.
Sara Norwood, freshman from Salina, Kan.
Jamie Prockish, sophomore from Stockton, Kan.
Josie Burt, freshman from Wichita, Kan.
Jeni Schwandt, sophomore from Liberty, Mo.
Larkin Jaynes, junior from Parkville, Mo.
MeaganLaughary, senior from Wheaton, Mo.
Lukas Helmers, freshman from Willow Springs, Mo.
Ethan Miller, freshman from Delaware, Okla.
Courtney Chandler, freshman from Drumright, Okla.
Cathy Wade, sophomore from Midwest City, Okla.
Logan Zehner, senior from Graham, Wash.
Tim Green, freshman from Washington Island, Wisc.
Jono Painter, senior from Sydney, Australia
Pedro Buitrago, freshman from Manizales, Colombia
Dennis Chrenek, senior from Grand Prairie, Canada
Chris Reinhart, senior from Kitchener, Canada
Thomas Fernandes, junior from Edmonton, England
Adam Glover, sophomore from Brentwood, Essex, England
Jack Hiscock, freshman from Swindon, England
Gulmira Aripova, freshman from Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Priyanka Dixit, senior from Kathmandu, Nepal
Alex Fernandez, freshman from Oviedo, Spain
Along with Bethany College staff members Noni Strand, Jon Daniels, Rhonda McKee and Walli Ellis, and friends Aubrie Ellis and Virg Augustine, participants included youth director Amy Zuercher and youth Anna Zuercher and Olivia Stineman from St. John’s Lutheran Church, Salina.
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to nurture and challenge individuals in their search for truth and meaning as they live lives of faith, learning and service. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu.
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