Reflections Magazine Issue #57 - Spring 2002 | Page 5

A New Kind of “Fun in the Sun”

Volunteering in Florida
This story by Telegram reporter Jennifer Youssef originally appeared in the March 15, 2002, issue of The
Daily Telegram and is excerpted by permission.

It’s an awesome experience,” said 21-yearold Jen Duranczyk, a senior at SHU. “Just
doing something worthwhile with your free
time. It feels good to help.”
“I thought it was going to be stressful, but it
wasn’t,” Siena Heights sophomore Lia Vitale,
19, said. “It encompassed a perfect amount
of having fun and working.”
Vitale said the Habitat foremen and supervisors encouraged the students to do their
own work—no matter how difficult the task
seemed—and they did not limit the students
on what they could do.
The Adrian College group stayed in Lake
County near Tampa while the SHU students
helped build houses in Jacksonville Beach.
The two groups tried to arrange the trip so
that they could work together in the same
city, but Habitat officials said they didn’t
have room to house such a large group, said
Tom Puszczewicz, Siena Heights director of
campus ministry.

5
Siena Heights University
senior promotes diversity

pring break. For many college students, those words are synonymous
with beach parties, kicking back and
having a little fun in the sun.
Students from Adrian College and Siena
Heights University spent their vacation in the
sun, too—helping needy families in Florida
build homes of their own. The students—26
from SHU and 20 from Adrian College—
volunteered their vacation week in Florida
with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds houses for financially
struggling families.

From the
Heights

Puszczewicz made the 18-hour drive to Florida with the students in one of the three SHU
vans the group took to Jacksonville. He said
about twice as many students participated in
the service trip this year as did last year.
A group of SHU students went to South Caroolina last year on a similar service trip, Puszczewicz said. The group last year worked on
one house, whereas the students this year
worked on a larger development...houses,
barns and other structures.
Habitat for Humanity provides homes for
low-income families at two-thirds the cost of
a new house and an interest-free mortgage.
Families who are granted a Habitat house
must help volunteers build it. The students
said they enjoyed working side-by-side with
the recipients of the home.
“It was a great learning experience. I can’t
wait to do it again next year,” said SHU
freshman Becky Riddle, 18.

Senior Mindy Mohsen is this year’s
recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr.
Student Service Award. Presented at the
14th annual Lenawee County Martin
Luther King, Jr. Breakfast in January, the
award recognizes significant contributions
reflecting the goals and ideals of the late
civil rights activist.
“As a future educator,
I feel it is very
important that all students, not only minority students, celebrate the birthday
of Dr. King,” said
Mindy in accepting her award.
“It’s not just a
day off from
school, but it is
a day to understand the struggles of another
culture and to
promote cultural
awareness.”
Mindy is a Dean’s
List scholar majoring in music, and an
active campus and
community leader at
Siena. A 1998 graduate of Fordson High
School in Dearborn,
Mindy is the daughter
of Imad Mohsen and
Linda Jenkins of
Detroit.
A resident assistant at Siena for two
years, Mindy has assisted with the Hispanic Celebration for three years. As part
of this year’s SHU Raising Consciousness
Series, she organized a program about
Muslim women. She is president of Phi
Sigma Sigma, whose many community
service projects include an annual “sleep
out” for the homeless and a chili dinner
to raise money for the National Kidney
Foundation.
Mindy is also a tutor, member of Panhellenic Council and the Presidents Roundtable, and a volunteer at Adrian’s Porter
Center, working with children with learning disabilities.