Volunteer group recognized at MGCCC Board of Trustees meeting

Dr. Willis H. Lott, president of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, stands with Dr. Thomas Matthews, director of Leadership Education, Development and Training at SUNY Geneseo, and Connie Rockco, District Five supervisor in Harrison County, during the college’s Board of Trustees meeting on May 20 at the Jefferson Davis Campus. Matthews works with a group called Livingston County CARES Inc., which has brought groups to the Gulf Coast since January 2006 to help recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Board of Trustees recognized members of Livingston County CARES Inc., a group from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, at its regular meeting May 20 on the Jefferson Davis Campus. The group, which has brought volunteers to Biloxi and Gulfport since January 2006 to help rebuild homes, attended the meeting as guests of Connie Rockco, District Five supervisor in Harrison County. The board recognized the group for the outstanding service-learning opportunities it provides students while also helping Coast residents post-Katrina.

“The May 17-23 trip to Biloxi was the 15th we have made since 2006,” said Dr. Thomas Matthews, the director of Leadership Education, Development and Training at SUNY Geneseo. “We had more than 55 students, staff and faculty members come on this trip, which was during our spring break, and have had more than 398 volunteers since the first trip to Harrison County.”

Teaching community service and volunteerism are important aspects of college learning, Matthews said. “One of our goals is to give our students the intense experience of helping others,” he said. “We have been successful in that most of our students tell us that they will continue volunteering long after they leave college.”

Matthews said the group was happy to take a break from house renovations to visit the board meeting. “We were thrilled to be guests at the board meeting and to meet administrators from Gulf Coast so we could talk about future trips and plans for possible collaboration between the colleges.”

Livingston County CARES Inc. is a collaborative effort among groups and organizations at SUNY Geneseo and the Geneseo and Livingston County community that started in September 2005 to focus relief and recovery efforts on helping people in Harrison County. For more information, visit http://livingstoncares.geneseo.edu.