CCG intern Rania Badran was awarded the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award! She was honored in January at a virtual celebration hosted by Wingate University. Rania is a Cultural Leadership Intern for the CCG, as well as president of the Muslim Students Association at Wingate University. Her work with the CCG helps to implement more diversity training and hold conversations with faculty, staff and students to create a more inclusive campus. Stay tuned for the great projects being dreamed and implemented by all 5 of the CCG's CLIs.

We are so proud of Rania and the work she has done to uphold the life and legacy of Dr. King at Wingate University.

CCG Coordinator Erika Niland and AmeriCorp VISTA student Hannah Fraser have been working with the Town of Wingate and the Union County Agricultural Extension on the Community Garden, located on the corner of North Main Street and East Elm Street on Wingate University's campus. They harvested over 10lbs of produce during the month of January, and have big plans for planting, creating cooking demos, increasing accessibility, and adding interactive elements to the garden.

Currently, they are looking for individuals or groups to rent out 8 of the garden's raised beds! They will provide the water and tools, just bring your green thumb! Email us at CCG@wingate.edu if you are interested!

Spearheaded by Wingate Graduate Students Ana Maria Patino and Tim Myers, the Wayfind Program is a college-access program partnered with the CCG that pairs WU students as mentors with local Union County Public School students who have everything it takes to make it to college and succeed but lack the support, access, and opportunity to do so.

If you’re interested and want to become a Wayfind Mentor or want to learn more about the program please email t.myers@wingate.edu or an.patino409@wingate.edu to apply!

CCG Leadership Intern Adden Howard and Dr. Nick DeLangie have been working with Brad Turley of Southern 8th's Farm to develop an awesome spring schedule for the A.L.I.E.N project (Adventure Leadership Immersion Experience). The team's purpose in developing these events is to bring students into nature to develop leadership character traits and group development through engagement, discussion, and reflection. Activities include archery, wilderness escape rooms, hiking, group discussion, article reflections, artistic reflection, and much more.

This spring, there are three leadership development retreats scheduled. We are so excited to welcome the WU Muslim Student Association to our first event of the season! If you or your RSO is interested in attending an event, please reach out to Adden Howard (ad.howard943@wingate.edu) to book your spot on the ALIEN event calendar!

The CCG collaborated with employees from the university, local nonprofit organizations, and local churches to provide food for students who were staying on campus over winter break. Since some of our student's could not go home due to COVID and the dining hall and restaurants around campus were closed over the break, food options were very limited, especially for students without reliable transportation. To make sure all our bulldogs felt the love this winter break, every Tuesday we shared some table fellowship (smiles, snacks, good conversation, food boxes, gift cards, the loan of cooking utensils, and home cooked meals) in the CCG space with over 20 students. Food boxes were donated by Common Heart, a local nonprofit. Snacks were donated by employees and students of the university as well as Heart for Monroe, another local nonprofit. Homemade meals were donated by employees of the university and members of the Community Church of Monroe. The initiative was a great success!