PSU students are making a difference in their communities

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Most people have happy memories from school, but that wasn’t always the case for Irvin Augur.

So he did something about that recently to prevent the same thing from happening at a Pittsburg Elementary School.

Augur called his fundraiser “Clothes for Kids.”

“And there were certain times when I couldn’t go out to recess because I didn’t have winter attire, and because of this I felt like, embarrassed to go to school, so we had a self-defense seminar this past Saturday for the children and charged them $20 for the entry fee, and all the money is going to purchase children’s clothing at Meadowlark Elementary School,” said Irvin Augur, PSU Social Work Senior.

Augur is one of a group of seniors in the PSU social work program that selected a cause near to their heart, and is making it happen.

His classmate Haylee Miller, a native of Lamar, is also fundraising for a good cause.

“I’m raising money for a domestic violence shelter called “Moss House” and I’m selling T-shirts and sweatshirts that I designed, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to Moss House, Moss House serves a huge community and they don’t have a ton of resources so I wanted to help raise money so they can better provide my community as also their community in Nevada,” said Haylee Miller, PSU Social Work Senior.

Dr. Kristen Humphrey says the social work department program is a great way to get experience in serving the community, something they’ll be doing for a living after graduation.

“It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and talk about doing community advocacy, and it’s an entirely something different to get out there and actually do it, so the students have the opportunity to see a project from beginning to end, from the spark of an idea to planning it out,” said Dr. Kristen Humphrey, PSU Professor of Social Work.

By the end of the semester, students will have collected fundraising dollars, dispersed them to the organization they’re helping, and presented their project for faculty, staff, and other students to look at.

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