MOUNT VERNON — Twelve Cornell College students leave Saturday, March 30, for Radford, Va., where they will spend a week during Cornell’s spring break tutoring children at several community learning centers.
The community centers are connected with Beans and Rice Inc., a nonprofit organization founded by Nelda Pearson to address hunger-related issues in Appalachia. Pearson will lecture at Cornell on April 25.
For the past two months, the students have held fund-raisers including a quilt raffle that netted $835 and a bake sale. Paul Revere’s Pizza contributed a slice of its earnings from two nights when Cornell students, faculty and staff ordered pizzas. Donations are still being accepted; checks made payable to Cornell College can be sent to the Volunteer Services Office, 600 First Street West, Mount Vernon, IA 52314.
The students will be accompanied by sociology professor Richard Peterson and 2001 Cornell graduate Amy Audetat, who works as the Cornell-Oak Hill VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) volunteer in Cedar Rapids. The group will return April 6. Cornell’s spring break runs March 27 through April 7. The college hopes the trip becomes an annual occurrence.
“We’d like to keep going back to Radford, so we can keep up connections,” said Jennifer Potter of the Volunteer Services Office.