News

'FHSU students help clean up after weekend festivities' 2007

Fort Hays State University students hoofed it through campus and the surroundins areas Wednesday afternoon, picking up any trash in the alleys, the bushes and the Quad.

After FHSU Homecoming and Oktoberfest, "We wanted to make sure everything was back to normal and the campus was pretty again," said Rindi Rae ZImmerman, a freshman and assistant director of Tigers in Service.

Students paired up with trash bags and pikers to get the smaller refues scattered throughout the area.

Though everyone pitched in, students Kurtis Tobald and Bronson Michaud were the victors in trash collection. Their secret: Look in the bushes.

"It looks like," Michaud said, "a bunch of raccoons have been dragging the food containers into thr bushes. They're a problem."

'SPURS is the 2005-2006 Volunteer Organization of the Year'

During the 2005-2006 school year, SPURS (Service, Patriotism, Understanding, Responsibility, Sacrifice) honorary society became FHSU's first Volunteer Organization of the Year. By recording their volunteer hours with Tigers In Service, SPURS surpassed any other organization, completing nearly 170 hours of service in Hays and other communites across the nation. This is no small feat for an organization with about ten active members at each service event. The Volunteer Organization of the Year plaque contains an 8x10 photo collage of different service events as well as an engraving. The plaque will be on display in the Memorial Union for at least the next 25 years with space for the winning organizations in years to come.

'Hurricane Relief Trip January 2006'

On January 2, 2006, 12 Tigers In Service volunteers and four Nurses Christian Fellowship members said goodbye to the normalcy of the rest of winter break and set off for New Orleans with a mission in mind: to help with the hurricane relief efforts. On January 3, we arrived at the Grace Disciples of Christ Church in Mandeville, LA, a short hour from New Orleans. Three days were spent “cutting and gutting” homes in the heart of one of the cities most drastically affected by Hurricane Katrina. Before home owners can even dream of rebuilding, their homes must first undergo the “cutting” process, which involves removing all the furniture and personal belongings that have been in the house since Katrina hit. Since the water levels rose up to the roofs of the houses, and stayed there for several days, all the items in the houses are extremely moldy, wet, and heavy. The next step is to completely “gut” the houses by taking out all the walls and ceilings, leaving only the wood structures to frame the houses. After the “cutting and gutting” process is complete, the home owners have hope for rebuilding.

"Our house doesn't always look like this!" - Mike Heisser, homeowner

Tigers In Service volunteers began the return trip home after completing the daunting task of stripping two homes. Volunteers were not only able to aid others by performing much needed physical labor while on this trip, but we also had the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from those who had escaped the hurricanes, lost friends and possessions in the tragedy, and who are now working towards the mounting goal of rebuilding. The owners saved anywhere from $6,000-12,000 of insurance money by having Tigers In Service volunteers “cut and gut” for them. While we saved a few people thousands of dollars, when we were in New Orleans, we learned that the greatest gift we gave was not the gift of physical labor, or even money; the greatest contribution we gave was hope. A bunch of college kids from Kansas caring enough to put their lives on hold to help others gives more hope to those who must live with the reality of the hurricanes than one could ever imagine. The people we encountered while in New Orleans have made permanent footprints on the hearts and lives of every volunteer who went on this relief trip. One specific image that comes to mind is that of a yard sign that was standing in the middle of all the destroyed homes, it read: “I AM COMING HOME! I WILL REBUILD. I AM NEW ORLEANS.”

'School Supplies Shipped to Children Affected By Hurricanes'

On November 17, volunteers gathered in front of Sheridan Hall on the Fort Hays State University campus to load 500 pounds of school supplies onto a Yellow Transportation semi-truck for Hurricane Help for Schools. According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 372,000 children's lives were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Hurricane Help for Schools gives school supplies to children affected by the hurricanes. After the school supplies were loaded in the truck, they were shipped to Franklin Upper Elementary

school in Meadville, Mississippi. Through the Tigers in Service program and Hurricane Help for Schools, this effort has helped to relieve some of the burden placed on families affected by the hurricanes and has allowed the FHSU students and community members an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children many miles away.

'Make A Difference Day a Huge Success in 2005'

'Tigers in Service Honored for Make A Difference Day 2004 Efforts'