Jackson Free Press

[verbatim] Millsaps College students, faculty and staff have collected toys, gathered food and hosted parties and other events to reach out to others in the community and beyond.

It's all in keeping with the college's emphasis on service to others. Earlier this year, Millsaps College was named to the second annual President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in recognition of the college's effective community service and service-learning opportunities.

As part of the 1 Campus, 1 Community program, Millsaps faculty and staff participated in a Thanksgiving food drive benefiting the elderly and disabled in North Midtown. Numerous bags of canned goods and cash donations-including 40 chickens donated by dining services-were collected.

The biology honorary Beta Beta Beta chapter held a Stocking Stuffer Party and filled 10 stockings with small gifts for the Salvation Army. The stockings will be distributed by the Salvation Army.

The Millsaps Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity decorated the Good Samaritan Center in the Midtown Neighborhood for Christmas. The fraternity worked to create a whimsical and hopeful atmosphere by hanging strands of lights, decorating with wreaths and bows, inflating a motorcycle Santa and trimming a 20-foot tree.

Millsaps junior Mary Clark Rardin led an effort to collect used DVDs and paperbacks for a troop in Iraq. The items will be sent to Captain Jeremy Linney and his troop of 90 young men and women.

The Millsaps College Panhellenic Council held Santa Shoestring in conjunction with Operation Shoestring. Local children visited the Delta Delta Delta, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta and Phi Mu lodges on the Millsaps campus for food, dancing and a special visit from Santa Claus.

Members of Millsaps Delta Delta Delta sorority volunteered to answer phones and take pledges for the St. Jude Dream House Giveaway Telethon which raised over $590,000 to aid children's cancer research.

The Millsaps Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity collected 67,875 pounds of food for Stewpot Ministries as part of the international the North American Food Drive. Members distributed paper bags with flyers and envelopes to over 4,500 homes in the Jackson area. They returned the next week to collect food and monetary donations.

Sophomore Katherine Nicholas organized a letter writing campaign to send notes of encouragement to troops fighting in Iraq.

Members of Circle K International, a service and leadership student organization, sponsored an Angel Tree for the Salvation Army. Fifty "angels" were adopted by the campus community who bought wanted and needed gifts for the children.

Members of Kappa Alpha Order hosted a charity golf tournament and raised $3,700 for Mallory Mashburn who suffers from autoimmune encephalitis Rasmussen disease. The tournament was held at Whisper Lake Country Club in Madison.

Faculty and staff at Millsaps College are currently conducting their annual drive for the Jackson Metropolitan Area United Way. Their goal this year is raise $9,500.