Rhodes students devote summer to making difference in city

Sandi George Tracy, director of career services at Rhodes and co-director for the program that has been around more than a decade, said she hopes students learn more about themselves and their responsibility to any community they live in.

Michael McCanless chose the nonprofit organization Fight for $15 after growing up in Calhoun, Georgia, where he observed what low wages can do to a community.

“It got me thinking what the work available determines what your community looks like,” McCanless said.

Claira Winget, who is volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club, stayed in Memphis to be part of the program instead of returning to Maryland af- ter some encouragement from friends.

“My friends told me I needed to be in Memphis. It’ll change my whole outlook on what Rhodes is and Memphis. It’ll give me a different perspective,” said Winget.

Students are also volunteering at Hope House, the Red Cross, Literacy Mid-South and other nonprofit organizations. The program continues through July 29.

“The students at Rhodes are just superior. They’re just outstanding students,” said Rev. Donald Mowery, founder of Youth Service, now called BRIDGES.

Mowery, who retired from BRIDGES in 1994, said people need to be told sometimes that we have good things as well as bad things in Memphis.

On June 7, students were split into groups, given $3.50 in quarters and told to ride the MATA bus to different locations around Memphis, highlighting the issue of public transportation.

The goal of the exercise was to inform students about how hard it is for people in the community who do not have access to private transportation to get health care, healthy meals or employment.

“Be humble,” said Becky Kempf, the program coordinator of Summer Service Fellowship as the students prepared to walk to the bus stop. “Observe, but don’t study.”

Kempf was a fellow in the program and volunteered at Girls Inc. in 2015.

“Girls Inc. was the perfect mix of feminism, empowerment and kids,” Kempf said. “I loved it.”