MSC FLI Goes Barefoot to Support Soles4Souls

MSC FLI hosted its first Soles 4 Souls campus-wide shoe drive on November 3-7. This community service project collected new and gently used shoes for the global not-for-profit, Soles4Souls, which benefits victims of natural disasters and children in orphanages in the United States and overseas. The mission of Soles4Souls is to fight the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty through two methods. The organization distributes shoes and clothing directly to people in need as well as sells these items to micro-organizations that create self-sustaining jobs to generate revenue for communities in need. This year 150 pairs of shoes were donated at drop-off boxes in the Memorial Student Center and Commons. Representatives of MSC FLI took the donated shoes to a drop center in Austin, TX over Thanksgiving break.

Halloween Party hosted by MSC Hospitality welcomed over 350 attendees on Thursday, October 30th. The Halloween Party event has been put on by MSC Hospitality for over 20 years and has helped MSC Hospitality maintain a strong relationship with the A&M campus and community at large.

Eyes Wide Open Week of Awareness

MSC FISH hosted its annual Eyes Wide Open Week of Awareness on October 13-17 to educate Texas A&M students on important topics that many students are unfamiliar with. This service project provides support to non-profit organizations while opening Aggies’ eyes to substantial issues and causes in the local community and around the world. Each FISH committee hosted a day during this week-long event and around 200 Texas A&M students participated each day.

Whoop! for Troops Returns for its 14th Year!

Executive Director of Community Service, Jessica Lochte ’15 from Fredericksburg, Texas, is heading up MSC LEAD’s Whoop! For Troops this year. This community service project is special to her because “it gives [her] the opportunity to do something great for troops during the holidays when they are away from their families.” Started in 2003, Whoop! For Troops sent 4,000 cards and 120 care packages overseas last year. Lochte hopes Aggie will help MSC LEAD send even more cards and care packages to troops this year!

In Memory of A.P. Wiley, Major Benefactor of MSC Wiley Lecture Series

We are sad to announce the passing last week of A.P. Wiley, Jr. '46, who in 1984, along with his brother James Wiley, Sr. '46, established an endowment to support a new student programming committee at Texas A&M University's Memorial Student Center.

At the time that new committee had just hosted their first lecture, which featured former U.S. President Gerald Ford, former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, and former British Prime Minister Edward Heath as guest speakers.  The two Wiley brothers were so impressed with "how these young people were able to put it all together" that they volunteered to endow the organization, which was named the MSC Wiley Lecture Series in honor of the brothers' generosity.

The committee has continued to hold true to its motto to "bring the world to Texas A&M University" by hosting lecture programs featuring prominent speakers. This past April the organization hosted former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and historian Dr. Douglas Brinkley. In November, 2013 the committee hosted a panel discussion on the future of the U.S. military featuring General Stan McChrystal, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, New York Times Foreign Correspondent David Sanger, and General Montgomery Meigs.

Of course Mr. Wiley's philanthropy and service extended to many other endeavors during his lifetime. We invite you to read more about Mr. Wiley's accomplishments.

MSC FLI’s Annual Donation Drive Benefits Houston’s Burmese Refugee Community

For the past three years, MSC Freshman LeadershipInternational (FLI) has developed a relationship with Life Cycles, (or on facebook) a non-profit organization in Houston that helps refugees build new lives in the Bayou City. In previous years FLI members have conducted a bicycle drive, collecting used bicycles and bicycle parts, which they then delivered to Life Cycles founder Jeremy Howell. With the help of some of the members of the Burmese refugee community, Howell would repair the bicycles and distribute them to community members. 

The bikes are important, says Alex Heinze ’16, Assistant Director of FLI’s International Service and Outreach subcommittee, because the refugees would use the bikes to get them to and from work. “They can barely afford food, much less buying a car,” she says. When a member of the community receives a bicycle from Life Cycles, she says that means “either the kids can get to school or the parents can get to their jobs in a way that isn’t economically expensive.”  The refugees, Heinze says, “want to be successful, and they want to support their families. They’re using these bikes to support themselves.”

Heinze says that as a freshman last year she was moved by the refugees’ stories of the persecution and violence they had left behind. For example, she recounts the trials of Kai, a Burmese refugee that Howell and his wife, Laurie Stone-Howell, who Heinze says is really “the soul of Life Cycles,” adopted.  She says that Kai and his brother had been forced to join the national army as pre-teens. When Kai and his brother escaped the army and returned to their village, the villagers expelled them out of fear of retribution from the army if they took the two boys in.

Learn About Careers in Public Service at Aggie Vision

Students interested in making a career out of public and community service—or just have a strong passion for and want to learn more about community service—have a great opportunity to learn about the non-profit industry at MSC LEAD’s inaugural Aggie Vision program on Saturday, April 26^th.

According the Jessica Lochte, Community Service Director with MSC LEAD, the purpose of the program is to give students the chance to listen to speakers who are already leaders in the non-profit industry and then give them a chance to spend an afternoon working with and learning about a specific non-profit organization.

Lochte says that the day will begin with a free breakfast and a presentation by Gabriella Medina, who is the Executive Chairwoman of the George Bush School Public Service Organization. After the speaker, program attendees will travel to a local non-profit where they will be able to meet with staff members there, learn about the non-profit’s mission, and contribute service to the organization.
Participating non-profits include:

• Adopt a Senior
• ChildreNinos
• Keep Brazos Beautiful
• Population Media Center
• Prison Entrepreneurship Program
• Project Unity
• Single Moms Create 4 Change
• Twin City Mission
• Voices for Children CASA

The program is free but advance registration is necessary. The deadline for registration is April 18. Student interested in participating should visit the Aggie Vision web site for more details.