NWTC Service-Learning and Civic Engagement 2018-2019 | Page 40

VETERANS DANIEL DIEBOLD: 2019 NEWMAN CIVIC FELLOW Veteran first-generation college student receives a prestigious honor for giving back. Daniel Diebold, a second-year student in the Automotive Technology program has been named one of over 200 community- committed students to be a 2019 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact: a national coalition of more than 1,000 colleges and universities dedicated to campus-based civic engagement. Daniel, a first-generation college student who serves as Vice President of NWTC’s Student Veterans Association (SVA), is also dedicated to making life easier for veterans and their families by serving as a member of The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) to promote and support better healthcare, education, and resources for veterans and their families. As Vice President of the SVA, Daniel also works to build funds to help other student veterans attending NWTC. Daniel also leads an effort to collect items for care packages to send to a recently deployed local National Guard Unit. 39 Daniel aspires to use his training within the Automotive Technology program to help veterans on fixed incomes access high-quality vehicle care for affordable payments. He is passionate about ensuring that other veterans have access to secure housing and transportation. It was Daniel’s vision, along with his extensive work in the Student Veterans Association and DAV to serve other fixed income veterans in the community that prompted his instructor to nominate him for a Newman Civic Fellowship. “Since settling in Northeast Wisconsin, I began to wonder how I could use my skills and interests to help others. I thought to myself, “What basic needs do people often need help with?” Daniel explained in his Newman Civic Fellows personal statement. “The answer I found so often was simply getting a vehicle running. After I complete my degree in Automotive Technologies, I want to set up a shop that helps people on limited incomes get their vehicles fixed with manageable assisted payment plans.” The Newman Civic Fellows Awards honors the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders and a tireless advocate for the civic engagement of higher education. The awards honor the achievements of undergraduate and graduate student leaders who have taken