Missouri State's Center for Community Engagement

Welcome back, Bears! 🐻

Join us next Monday at the MLK NAACP March & Program to support Springfield initiatives that inspire change.

Ready to make a real impact? Support Missouri State University on Giving Day, March 25-26! Your gift helps empower the next generation of MSU leaders. Learn more and donate at https://givingday.missouristate.edu/amb/bearpantry.

Missouri State Giving Day 2025 | Donate Giving Day Powered by ScaleFunder

CHICAGO SPRING BREAK 2024 (Trip 1/3)
Our Chicago Bear Breaks crew volunteered a total of 176 hours at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, St. James, Nourishing Hope, and the Friendship Center. With a successful trip focused on food insecurity, students were able to make a difference while getting the opportunity to explore the city!

Happy late Earth Day! We celebrated by sending volunteers to Lake Springfield, Springfield Community Gardens, and Eden Village. Giving back to our planet and community is so important!!

Celebrate Earth Day with us by signing up for one of our Bear Service events! All are on April 22nd from 1-5pm. Sign ups for each event are available through the QR codes or through https://www.givepulse.com/group/115901-Missouri-State-University All event pages are also linked below!

Lake Springfield: https://www.givepulse.com/event/432791

Eden Village: https://www.givepulse.com/event/432866

Springfield Community Gardens: https://www.givepulse.com/event/435708

The FSL community collected a grand total of 12,082.25 lbs of items for during greek week!! We are always so proud to see organizations come together to help our mission of diminishing food insecurity on campus.

MEMPHIS SPRING BREAK 2024 (trip 1/3)
The Memphis crew served a total of 95 hours at Youth Villages, a state of the art residential facility that houses children at-risk. Outside of immersing themselves in youth education, they had the opportunity to explore the city and visit attractions such as Beale Street, the Grizzlies game, and the Hernado de Soto Bridge.

Greek Week is in full swing! We love seeing FSL organizations work together to bring in donations for the community. Nothing like a little competition to bring in the largest donations of the year!

Happy Volunteer Appreciation month to all of our Bear Pantry volunteers and Bear Breaks participants. Seeing our students engaging in the community is such an important part of our mission, and we are so thankful for all the help we receive!

Spring Break volunteer site overview!
Across all three trips, we served a total of 411 hours at 6 different locations. The Chicago crew served 176 hours at the Chicago Food Depository, St. James, Nourishing Hope, and the Friendship Center. In Memphis, our group served 95 hours at Youth Village, and the Dallas group served 140 hours at Camp Summit.

BEAR BREAKS DALLAS 2024 (trip 3/3)
The Dallas crew volunteered a total of 140 hours at Camp Summit, a barrier-free residential camp for children and adults with disabilities.
Across all three trips, we hit a grand total of 411 service hours and overall had very successful Spring Break immersion experiences!