Jackson Free Press

John Kellogg, 21, says he has a skewed sense of normalcy. Currently in his last year at Millsaps College, majoring in psychology with a focus on human services, the Shreveport, La., native is full of stories about his interactions with the homeless. Kellogg is currently an intern at Stewpot Community Services working to organize a summer food drive, and Jerome, a homeless man who frequents Stewpot, often accompanies him on trips to donation sites. "We've distributed about 350 boxes to different places throughout the city," says Kellogg, "and we listen to a lot of blues on the rides."

While he was growing up, his mother worked as a special education teacher, and Kellogg says he got used to being around people in situations different from his own. Though Kellogg has devoted tremendous amounts of his time serving others—from being a member of the Mississippi AIDS Coalition, to volunteering at an orphanage outside of Chenai, India, in the summer of 2006—he says he feels he is, more than anything, just making friends.

"The issues are certainly what spark my fire, but for the most part I care about people more than what's wrong with them. You know, who cares what's wrong with them? Most people just want someone to listen to them, whether it's the homeless guy behind Millsaps, a patient in an AIDS clinic or a kid in India. A person may not have a house, but aside from that you'd be surprised how many of us all have the same problems, even if we're in different situations."

Kellogg and Jackson native Chelsi West, another Millsaps senior, are the student leaders behind the 1 Campus, 1 Community initiative, an across-the-board program intended to build relations and partnerships between the school and the North Midtown community. Though still in its fledgling stages, 1C1C has already hosted numerous roundtable discussions between representatives of Millsaps and service organizations, and a block party, with games and activities drawing more than 500 people from the school and neighborhood.

"This next year we're just laying more groundwork for 1 Campus, 1 Community," Kellogg says, "getting more funding and things like that. We're not really doing a whole lot of activities and programming."

Those "few" activities include a day trip for Midtown kids to meet the New Orleans Saints, who will be at Millsaps for training camp at the end of the summer, funding trips to sports camps, grant-writing classes for members of Midtown organizations, and hosting more roundtable discussions and block parties.

"OK, so we are doing a lot," Kellogg admits. "I guess I just try not to think of everything all at once cause then it gets so overwhelming."

Previous Comments

ID

82640

Comment

Sounds like great planning - exactly the kind of thing needed to engage the area surrounding Millsaps and integrate the campus more fully into it's community. Good stuff.

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-07-26T09:02:07-06:00