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Photo by Ashley DeRousse

Ernie Pyle Scholars spent some time during a three-day weekend sorting clothing for the nonprofit My Sister's Closet, which helps outfit women for job interviews. Through a special promotion, the group hoped to gain free admission to Disney World while visiting Florida during spring break.

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Several journalism honors students spent time over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday sorting clothes and stacking boxes – all for a good cause and to help fund their spring break study trip.

The Ernie Pyle Scholars Class of 2012 took shifts over the three-day weekend volunteering at My Sister’s Closet, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to providing low-income women with professional clothing. Working Saturday, Sunday and Monday, morning and afternoon, the 18 students sorted clothing, built shelves and organized boxes.

The group chose My Sister’s Closet because “it is an important local organization,” said the Director of Experiential Learning and Recruitment Kathleen Lee, who helped organize the service project. “We were looking for something that would give back to students and the local Bloomington community.”

The program was set up through the Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day promotion, where participants can earn a free day at a Disney theme park through philanthropic activities. As the Ernie Pyle Scholars will be traveling to the Poynter Institute in Florida over spring break, this project helps them earn admission to Disney World in nearby Orlando.

“The program was a great tie-in to help make the trip more meaningful,” said Lee. “Part of the idea of a scholar is more is expected of you.”

Patrick Rollings, who volunteered Saturday morning, worked on building shelves and breaking down boxes.

Photo by Ashley DeRousse

My Sister's Closet provides the complete outfit for low-income women going on job interviews. Students such as Kamilla Benko sorted clothing, hung shelves and even polished shoes while volunteering.

“It was more fun than I had expected. I got to spend a morning with friends doing something I don’t normally do,” he said.

Kamilla Benko spent two hours on Sunday sorting 10 boxes of shoes by size and season.

“I had a wonderful time speaking to other students and our Ernie Pyle mentor, as well as joking with the supervisors of My Sister’s Closet,” she said. “I learned a lot about an organization that seems to have a real tangible effect on women in the community.”

Assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major, the 2012 scholars’ mentor, also thinks it is important for her students to volunteer.

“I think it is a holistic approach to education – educating students inside and outside the classroom,” she said.

Lee said volunteering and giving back to the community are vital for individuals. Service learning, she said, is important for college students, but it is also essential to do throughout one’s life.

“We should stop and think about what we should do for the community as journalists besides reporting,” she said.

More:

• Read volunteer MJ Slaby's first-person account of the service project.

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