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Strange is honored Samford (Birmingham, Alabama)University student Aubrie Strange of Cocke County was expecting to spend last Thursday at the 2020 Gulf-South Summit on “Building Healthy Communities.” The junior Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) major and history minor was to receive the organization’s honor for Outstanding Student Contributions to Service-Learning in Higher Education in recognition for her work as president of Samford’s Partners Acting in the Community Today (PACT,) a community engagement and social justice student organization that works with the university’s Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership. “Aubrie's work with PACT is both an example of and inspiration for the great work that students around the country and around the world are doing to make our world a better place,” said Tim Stewart, chair of the Gulf-South Summit Executive Committee. “I'm so glad that Aubrie's efforts are being recognized and encouraged by this award." But instead of receiving that award, Strange was at home in Newport, practicing social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic that postponed the summit, but still keeping a hand in the work that brought her the honor. Her Samford colleagues and mentors, including president Andrew Westmoreland, JMC professor Clay Carey and Mann Center Associate Director Allison Nanni, congratulated Strange via homemade videos and an online meeting. They learned that Strange has been helping provide lunches for local children who, like her, have been displaced from school. Nanni noted that the Mann Center is helping to organize a similar effort for children in Perry County, Alabama, in collaboration with Mann Center AmeriCorps VISTA team members and the Sowing Seeds of Hope organization. Without coordinating, mentors and students arrived at the same conclusion about how best to serve in this emergency. Strange said her passion for volunteerism in general is as great as what she can bring to any particular project, saying she simply loves to serve wherever she is needed. “Every time I’m in a community, I’m reminded how important community work is,” she said, “how much it means to so many people, and how much bigger it is, sometimes, than you would ever imagine.” Serving people harmed by a pandemic is one of those surprisingly big and unexpected challenges, but Strange has prepared for it through her own initiative and with the encouragement of a university culture that shares her values. She hopes to make a career in nonprofit communication, hopefully in a museum setting, but whatever career she chooses, Strange is certain that she wants to continue serving her community in some way. “It matters a lot to me,” she said. “It matters a lot to a lot of people."
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
US 411 Project News
Mill Creek Wildfire Update
More Bad News For Smokies' Fans
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Mill Creek Wildfire doubles in size
Goodbye Smokies?
Keep Cocke County Beautiful
Cocke Co. High School Remote Learning today!
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
The fireflies are coming!
Burnout Operations on MillCreek wildfire today
Gas prices drop
Tennessee keeps all US House seats
Monday, April 26, 2021
Boat accident victim ID'd
Traffic stop yields drug arrest
Cocke County Wildfires
Friday, April 23, 2021
Leaving WNPC
Mathis announces candidacy
Newport drug roundup
Cruise Against Cancer
Jobless numbers
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