Students create "Read. Plan. Love" to aid families with reading, meal planning
March 1, 2011
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Reading and cooking--two things that a variety of people might claim as joys of life. They are also issues with which the immediate community may need some assistance.
This April, ten Mount Vernon Nazarene University students are doing something to pass these joys on to others in our community by initiating the “Read. Plan. Love.” project.
A combined effort by several groups, Read. Plan. Love. aims to help improve literacy and educate families about meal budgeting. The four-week program allows 5-10 families to come together to cook a meal. Afterward, adults will go through a budgeting workshop while the children will be given individual reading assistance.
Groups involved in making this project a reality include MVNU’s Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), Community Service and Ministry Opportunity (CoSMO) campus group Bookworms and South Vernon United Methodist Church. These groups came together to determine a tangible way to help serve the community, supported by an $850 grant from The Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County.
“We hope to bring families together while they learn to make cost effective and nutritional meals. We’re providing a learning environment on ways to implement a healthy lifestyle in a family-oriented setting,” said MVNU junior Russ Ramser. “Additionally, we hope that, with the help of Bookworms, the children will develop their reading skills and a deeper enjoyment of reading.”
In addition, students have a larger vision that this project will extend beyond the first group in April and that those participants will return to assist future groups, hence continuing the cycle of serving others. Students will present this project at the spring SIFE competition as
The Read. Plan. Love. student team members making this happen include Alex Moore, SIFE president (Batavia); Meghan Barker, project leader (Kingsville); Derrick Atkins(Benton Harbor, Mich.); Russ Ramser (Gambier); Courtney Ricker (Marysville), Hannah Hammon (Greenwich), Rebekah Hayman (Pataskala), Olivia Spoon (Troy), Matt Crouch (Mount Vernon), Keyara Moore (Danville) and Sarah Yutzy (West Jefferson).
For more information about Read. Plan. Love., or if you’d like to support the project, contact Meghan Barker at mbarker@mail.mvnu.edu or (440) 994-9759. A summary of all SIFE projects can be seen at www.mvnu.edu/sife/projects.php.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students and working adults. U.S. News & World Report ranks MVNU in the top 50 Regional Colleges (Midwest) for the seventh year in a row. With a 400-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and eight additional satellite Graduate and Professional Studies sites throughout the state, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education to more than 2,600 students from 26 states and seven countries/U.S. territories.
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