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Students able to serve community through Pittsburgh Project

By Connor Walsh, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read

“Waynesburg University educates students to make connections between faith, learning and serving so they might faithfully transform their communities and the world.”

This statement can be found about Waynesburg when you look under the university’s mission on the school’s website.

A major part of the philosophy that drives Waynesburg is serving the community, which is why the university has launched the High Impact Initiative in conjunction with the Bonner Program.

The basis of the High Impact Initiative is to educate the students of Waynesburg about the surrounding area, considering that students live here for many months of the year.

In addition to this, the initiative is also aimed at increasing community service output from all students, not necessarily just those who are involved in the Bonner Program.

The Pittsburgh Project, an organization that Waynesburg has had a good working relationship with in the past, is one of the avenues students can take to get more involved in the community.

Lauren Pfeiffer, the Homeowner Services Manager at the Pittsburgh Project, said that the purpose of the organization is to “develop servant leaders and uphold the dignity of vulnerable homeowners.”

“Our vision is that Pittsburgh will be called a city of truth, where once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets, each with a cane in hand because of age, and where the city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there,” Pfeiffer said. “We strive to accomplish our purpose and vision through our programs in both our Youth Development department, which reaches out to kids and families in our North Side community through our after school program and summer day camp, and our Homeowner Services ministry, which performs free home repairs throughout the city of Pittsburgh through service camps.”

Waynesburg students traditionally have served twice in both the fall and spring semester, plus a full week during spring break.

Without the volunteer work of students at the university, the organization would not be able to function and give back to the community the way it has for 30 years now, according to Pfeiffer.

“It is a blessing to have college students assist us on some of the more difficult projects that may not be appropriate for a high school or middle school group,” Pfeiffer said. “Waynesburg has also honored us by having a class that is dedicated to learning about ministry and providing us a platform that we can share our vision and passion with young college students that still have most major life decisions ahead of them and can be world changers.”

Joshua Hennigh, sophomore Bonner Scholar at Waynesburg, has had the opportunity to give back to the community through the Pittsburgh Project. He has made multiple trips to Pittsburgh over the last two years, completing a variety of different tasks when renovating houses.

“This past weekend, I was in charge of mortaring crack in the foundation of a house, then priming and painting it, then we had to install a carpet on the porch,” Hennigh said. “Last year, I was put in a group that was in charge of redoing the entire downstairs of a house, which included new floor boards, new cabinets, new sink and counter, along with fresh paint and lighting.”

Service is a very important part of Hennigh’s life.

“As a Christian, we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves,” Hennigh said. “Community service is a way that I can reach out to those around me and try to make their days a little better every time I interact with them.”

Something the Pittsburgh Project wants from Waynesburg is for more students from the university, Bonner Scholar or not, to get more involved more frequently. There are many ways students who are interesting in serving the community can get involved with the Project.

One of these ways is either working or interning with them is during the summer months.

“We hire about 80 college students to do a variety of jobs around The Pittsburgh Project, from camp counselors to classroom teachers to lifeguards and baristas and administrative help,” Pfeiffer said. “We also have the Homeowner Care Volunteer program, where we send volunteers to be friendly visitors to some of our more isolated homeowners. No construction skills needed, just a desire to share God’s love through a friendly visit once a month. Even making a small financial donation to The Pittsburgh Project can go a long way.”

For students looking to get involved with The Pittsburgh Project, contact Lauren Pfeiffer at 412-321-1678 or lpfeiffer@pittburghproject.org.

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