UNCP's student volunteers are honored

By Scott Bigelow

"If you see me in the future, and I'm short in some area, let me know," said Charlie Davis.

Top leader - Charlie Davis, Outstanding Community Service Award winner, and Melanie Clark, director of the Leadership and Service Opportunities Program

Davis had just been awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award for students at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke - the LSOP's (Leadership and Service Opportunities Program) Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service.

If he was short in any way during his sophomore year, nobody at UNCP noticed. A Teaching Fellow from Dudley, N.C., Davis and more than 100 other students were honored during an awards ceremony on April 21.

He racked up an outstanding year of volunteer community service, tutoring elementary school children in Red Springs, reading to guests at a local nursing home, helping build a nature trail in Lumberton, participating in a rally in Washington, D.C., and Reading in the Park in Pembroke. He is also a member of the College Republicans and Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity.

The LSOP program has helped Davis find his calling and helped him build personal ties to the local community.

"Literacy has become my calling," said the elementary education major. "Participating in the "Jobs for the Future" trip to Washington convinced me that I want to stay in Robeson County."

Debbie Wrinkle, LSOP board member, office volunteer and award winner, with Melanie Clark, LSOP director

Like his opening line, Davis is a modest leader.

"I won't say I'm a leader, but sometimes I say the things that need to be said," he said.

LSOP honored 114 student volunteers for helping to contribute more than 6,000 volunteer hours. Student Activities Director and LSOP founder Abdul Ghaffar said in five years the organization has grown from 44 volunteers to more than 700.

"You guys are special because you care about what's going on around you," Ghaffar said. "Some of you volunteered all the way to the nation's capital."

LSOP Director Melanie Clark said her job is not so much to inspire volunteers as it is to be inspired by them.

"I get my inspiration from you, our volunteers," Clark said. "I am just going to try to get through this without crying this year."

Senior social work major Debbie Wrinkle received the Distinguished Leaders Award. She also served on the LSOP board of directors and worked in the LSOP office.

Campaign for Compassion Coordinator Dominique Cooper with LSOP Director Melanie Clark

Wrinkle said the LSOP workshops were the most enjoyable part of the program. Attendance at eight workshops is required to earn a LSOP award.

"I planned to do 400 hours of community service. I lost count, but it's far more than that," Wrinkle said. "I think it was the LSOP workshops, like stress management and Higher Ground Outdoor Educational Center, that hooked me. I had a great time and just kept going."

A Washington state native and Fayetteville resident with three children, Wrinkle plans to go to graduate school after graduation.

"We couldn't have done all that we did this year without Debbie," Clark said. "She was like a full-time employee."

Dominique Cooper, a sophomore from Raleigh, was given a special award for coordinating the annual Campaign for Compassion, a weeklong consciousness-raising program for students.

"This event serves as an eye-opener for the campus and community to understand the issues of the day," Cooper said. "We already have plans for next year."

Horizon Leader Awards (Freshmen with 30 hours of community service):
Michael-Cherokee Anderson, Matthews, N.C.
Aubrey Ardiente, Richlands, N.C.
Donna Blanton, Pembroke,
Anna Bunn, Zebulon, N.C,
Michelle Comp, Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Salyna Dvorovy, Jamesburg, N.J.
Jamie Eads, Cameron, N.C.
Tamikka Gilmore, Marston, N.C.
Megan Grimsley, Laurinburg, N.C.
Tim Kang, Fayetteville, N.C.
Joey Kirk, Whiteville, N.C.
Sara Lane, Stokesdale, N.C.
Christelle Lebeau, Hamlet, N.C.
Barbara Locklear, Maxton, N.C.
Shalasha Locklear, Pembroke. N.C.
Jamie McCall, Linden, N.C.
Jessica Ortiz, Fayetteville, N.C.
Kyle Ring, Walnut Cove, N.C.
Amber Simmons, Caraspeake, N.C.
Koral Stache, Louisville, Tenn.
Megan Todd, Norwood, N.C.

Distinguished Leader Awards (Upperclassmen with 50 hours of community service):
Scott Ammons, Laurinburg, N.C.
Jeshannah Ayala, Fayetteville, N.C.
Maureen Baisley, Charlotte, N.C.
Adrienne Barber, Hillsbourough, N.C.
Marian Berkley, Whiteville, N.C.
Galloway Brown, St. Pauls, N.C.
Loretta Chavis, Lake Waccamaw, N.C.
Broch Clinton, Cedar Grove, N.C.
George Coates, Greensboro, N.C.
Dominique Cooper, Raleigh, N.C.
Brandon Davis, Thomasville, N.C.
Charlie Davis, Dudley, N.C.
Cindy Edwards, Fairmont, N.C.
Clarence Ely III, Beaufort, N.C.
Taneisha Epps, Whiteville, N.C.
Dana Faircloth, Parkton, N.C.
Dena Felty, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Monica Frink, Ash, N.C.
Ron Gaskins, Lumberton, N.C.
Mimi Gedlu, Washington, N.C.
Michael Graham, Fairmont, N.C.
Jennifer Hammonds, Lumberton, N.C.
Ivorie Hayes, Pembroke, N.C.
Aleesha Herring, Fayetteville, N.C.
Flossie Hunt, Maxton, N.C.
Kevin Hunt, Laurinburg, N.C.
Tony Hunt, Lumberton, N.C.
Barbara Jacobson, Fayetteville, N.C.
Jether James, St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Edward John, Laurinburg, N.C.
Kirsten Johnson, Charlotte, N.C.
Rebecca Larkins, Fayetteville, N.C.
Brenda Lathen, Fayetteville, N.C.
Geneviene Lebeau, Hamlet, N.C.
Kay Locklear, Red Springs, N.C.
Crystal Little, Lumberton, N.C.
Julie Maathey, Ghana, Africa
Maria Melanthiou, Cypress
Amy Mustoe, Lumberton, N.C.
Chika Okonkwo, Raleigh, N.C.
Faidat Onikoyi, Greensboro, N.C.
Dee Patrick, Bolton, N.C.
Bruce Pier, Fayetteville, N.C.
Adria Pontious, Fayetteville, N.C.
Carrie Preston, Fayetteville, N.C.
Peter Sanderson, Fayetteville, N.C.
Rachel Serrano, Fayetteville, N.C.
Michelle Shaw,Whiteville, N.C.
Sheri Sides, Laurinburg, N.C.,
Teresa Smith, Laurel Hill, N.C.
Heather Stanley, Lumberton, N.C.
Hong Tran, Raleigh, N.C.
K. Blake Tyner, Maxton, N.C.
Kelly Velez, Booton, N.J.
Lea Winfield, Rowland, N.C.
Andrea Winter, Hope Mills, N.C.
J.C. Worthington, Clarkton, N.C.
Siporia Wrighten, Wendell, N.C.
Debbie Wrinkle, Fayetteville, N.C.

Leadership Fellow Awards (Seniors with 150 hours of community service):
Dawn Cox, Lumberton, N.C.,
Monica Frink, Ash, N.C.
Ron Gaskins, Lumberton, N.C.
Mimi Gedlu, Washington, N.C.
Flossie Hunt, Maxton, N.C.
Kay Locklear, Red Springs, N.C.
Mia Manning, Maxton, N.C.
Corey Marks, Jackson Springs, N.C.
Charles Mauney, Lumberton, N.C.
Dee Patrick, Bolton, N.C.
Engle Revels, Lumberton, N.C.
Shannon Revels, Lumberton, N.C.
Peter Sanderson, Fayetteville, N.C.
Michelle Shaw, Whiteville, N.C.
Erin Smith, Salisbury, N.C.
Teresa Smith, Laurel Hill, N.C.
Andrea Winter, Hope Mills, N.C.
Amy Woodell, Pembroke, N.C.
J.C. Worthington, Clarkton, N.C.

LSOP Board of Directors:
Debbie Wrinkle, Fayetteville, N.C.
Megan Grimsley, Laurinburg, N.C.
Charlie Davis Dudley, N.C.
Jamie McCall, Linden, N.C.

Service Learning Recognition (volunteered at Pembroke Elementary School):
Valisha Adams, Durham, N.C.
Aubrey Ardiente, Richlands, N.C.
Deidra Dial, Pembroke, N.C.
Megan Grimsley, Laurinburg, N.C.
Heather Stanley, Lumberton, N.C.
Debbie Wrinkle, Fayetteville, N.C.

Certificates of Appreciation (community agencies and individual volunteers): Robeson County Red Cross, CIS Academy, Center for Community Action, Guardian Ad-Litem, Palmer Prevention, Pembroke Boys and Girls Club, Pembroke Elementary, Rape Crisis Center, Alzheimer's Association, UNCP Family Life Center, UNCP Athletics Department, Baptist Student Union, Career Services Center, Chancellor Allen Meadors,University Computing and Information Services, Disability Support Services, Dr. Anita Guynn, Dr. John Bowman, Dr. Leslie Hossfeld, Dr. Liliana Wendorff, Dr. Robert Reising, Givens Performing Arts Center, University Honors College, University Center, Media Center, Academic Affairs, Advisement and Retention, Counseling and Testing, Enrollment Management, Minority Affairs, Student Activities, Student Affairs, Physical Plant, Regional Center for Economic, Community and Professional Development, Social Work Program, Sodhexo Food Services, Student Health Services, Teaching Fellows, University Attorney Donna Payne, University Housing and University and Community Relations.

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