More than wealth, notoriety, or even good health, it is our fundamental need to feel a human connection that most often compels our behavior. Coincidentally, when we come together as a community to support a good cause, we achieve the greatest sense of satisfaction.
This weekend, in the spirit of community, five UGA alumni came together to welcome twenty undergraduate students from The University of Georgia to the city of Charleston. These undergraduate students have selflessly volunteered their spring break — a reprieve from the pressures of academics — to help with the Carolina Youth Development Center in North Charleston. Their work will provide children “experiencing or at risk of abuse, neglect, or emotional disturbances” an opportunity for a brighter future.
Alumni Jenny Perry ’06, Eric Lehner ’07, ’08, Meredith Covert ’98, Antionette Green ’92, and Jamey Burrell ’07 met the students at Mount Pleasant’s Waterfront Park at 6:00PM Sunday. With blankets spread on the ground, the students and alumni dined on Jenny Perry’s homemade Jambalaya and discussed life in Charleston. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, and for many of the students, the experience provided their first truthful and candid insight into what to expect following college.
After picture-taking at sunset and some gracious goodbyes, the students packed into their UGA vehicles and headed toward their accommodations in North Charleston. Left behind to finish cleaning, the alumni quietly shared the satisfaction of making a positive contribution to both the students’ futures and to the Bulldog Community.
Remember, as an alumni chapter we represent all that our Alma Mater, The University of Georgia, embodies. We are more than Saturdays in the fall; we are a community bound together by our Southern ideals, our rich tradition, and our noble sense of community. As we move forward through 2012, we invite alumni young and old to join with us as we share the greatness of the Bulldog Nation with the people of Charleston, SC.
Thanks –
Jamey Burrell ’07
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