A Community Collaboration Comes to UHS Commons
Rebecca Ginsburg speech at UHS Commons
For their service project, students packaged 2,600 pounds of rice to benefit the Illini Fighting Hunger-Eastern Illinois Food Bank.
The event started with music from the UHS Jazz Band and UHS Choir. Later, guest speakers Aaron Ammons, Urbana City Council, and Rebecca Ginsburg, Associate Professor and Director of Education Justice Project from University of Illinois presented to the group.
Both speakers discussed the importance of social justice work in the era of mass incarceration.
Both speeches highlight how American imprisonment is expensive and inhumane towards American families, often poor minorities who tend to be African American.
“People thrown away and forgotten,” said Ammons. A change of tone, Ginsburg ended hers by saying, “you haven’t been completely forgotten.”
Both speakers claim that people who are sent to jail and then released have a rough time surviving in the real world due to the separation of society, as well as their personal records holding them down. Jobs are harder to find with a criminal record, so many go back to crime to make ends meet for themselves and their families.
A solution Ginsburg introduces is to provide college courses for incarcerated people. The Ripple Effect, created in Champaign, is a family-friendly way for people to reach out into prisons “with purpose and love,” as Ginsburg describes it.
Interact Sponsors Matthew Stark, Alicia Trezise, and Donald Owen agreed that this was, by far, the most successful year for UHS Interact Club’s MLK Day of Service and Celebration.
Last year, MLK Day of Service and Celebration was located at the Urbana Civic Center. Because of that, there was less space, so rice packaging was much slower. This year’s new location created a bigger environment for the Food Bank and led to even more rice packaging.
“I felt proud. Proud of the UHS students, and staff giving their free time to learn and serve their community. We had such a great turnout! It was also loads of fun working with all those different people for a common goal,” says Trezise.
Interact Club is always looking for new members. Meetings are held every other Wednesday, so come by if interested to be a part of the community and get your service hours in.
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