For the 21 years that I have been teaching, I have embraced the belief that all students will help others if they are given an idea and a plan. A part of my goals for my students is to help them understand the significance of community service. When I came to AUD, I wanted to continue that belief in my teaching by having each of my four classes participate in some kind of community service. Students do not receive a grade for their participation; it is strictly voluntary. Each semester since I have been at AUD, I have had my students do community service projects as an extra part of being a student in my class. Last fall, my students collected used clothes for the charity “Honor Me” which helps women in developing countries who have been victims of “honor crimes.” Last spring, all four of my classes collected toys for the children in Cameroon. The group from AIA who went to Cameroon this summer delivered the toys to the children there. At the request of Peggy Awad, this summer my two summer school classes collected school supplies for the children in Cameroon. Our instructors and students who went there to volunteer informed us that the school supplies were enough for four schools in Cameroon.

This fall semester, my four classes decided to collect non-perishable food to make ‘gift bags’ for all of the 110 workers on campus. The results have been overwhelming; students who donated food each receive a few points extra on a low quiz grade, but that is the only incentive. Each bag now contains two 3 kg. bags of rice, two cans of meat or fish, two cans of beans, canned vegetables, pasta, instant noodles, canned fruit, and some have oil, sugar or flour. On Monday, 14 September, students came in shifts to count, sort and pack the bags. We had more student volunteers than even was required for the tasks at hand. I have been continually impressed and humbled by the good work that my students have done. They have shown me repeatedly that their goodness exceeds what experiences we have with them as our students in class. Others on campus, particularly Joerg Maak, Peggy Awad and Elie Sawaya, have been instrumental in helping me plan the logistics to make this project possible. On September 16, at 5:30 p.m., the volunteer students and I began handing out the gift bags.