The Tide Ripple Effect is a program that gets students into the community to volunteer
| The Tuscaloosa News
Incoming University of Alabama freshmen spread out in the community Monday as they took part in the Tide Ripple Effect, a program that gets students into the community to volunteer in ways that help local nonprofit organizations.
While the normal Ripple Effect usually involves 1,000 students, because of coronavirus concerns this year’s effort was considerably smaller, employing on 70 students spread across six service locations in Tuscaloosa.
“We believe that it is vital to be a part of your community,” said Courtney Chapman Thomas, director of the University of Alabama’s service and leadership program. “We believe Tuscaloosa is part of our home and our students believe it is their home, too. The point of Ripple Effect is to cause great ripples, that service just really leads to great repercussions in our community. Even though this year looks a little different, we knew our nonprofits needed us. We are practicing all over Tuscaloosa in much smaller groups than normal, but we are practicing social distancing and everyone is wearing a mask all the time.”
Student volunteers helped at Temporary Emergency Services, Wings of Grace, the University of Alabama Arboretum, Arts ‘N Autism, Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa and the West Alabama Food Bank. The program is in its 27th year and was designed to help teach young men and women how to become active members of their communities.
“We believe that the whole point of higher education is to teach and empower active and engaged citizens. We want them to be good community members while they are here but also for a lifetime. This is just one step in that piece of civic engagement that getting out and doing something in your community is the first step in becoming the citizen you need to be,” said Chapman Thomas.
Pulling weeds, or hanging clothes or sorting food may not seem like monumental acts, but the service-learning project uses such basic tasks to help integrate students into the Tuscaloosa community, which will be at least their temporary home. Whether they remain her after graduation or return to their communities, the program will have sown the seeds of community engagement in them, which is the point of the entire project, according to Chapman Thomas.
“I think it would have been easier to do that, to just be a student, but it is much more worthwhile to become part of the community rather than to just exist within the community,” said participant Bridget McMullin who is from Loda, Illinois.
She was sorting clothes at Temporary Emergency Services along with a small team of fellow students. A few blocks away at Arts ‘N Autism, another team of students pulled weeds and cleaned playground equipment.
Sophomore Kennedy Zachery, a veteran of the service-learning project from Atlanta, said, “I’ve always had a passion for community service and this is one of the events I have always looked forward to. I’m only a sophomore, but I did it last year and I really enjoyed it. So, I decided to sign up to make an impact on the community.”
Joining her in the weed-pulling work was fellow sophomore, C.J. Byrd, from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He said, “I think it is important to come out here, even in a pandemic to get as much done as possible. It is good to come out there and do something for the people who actually go to Arts ‘N Autism.”