ECU launches Holiday Drive to help needy families

By ECU News Bureau


Saturday, November 22, 2008

East Carolina University’s Business Services has launched its annual Holiday Drive to help local needy families. Now in its 14th year, the drive collects toys, food and clothing from members of the ECU community to donate to local charities during the holiday season.

“There are a number of other wonderful holiday projects being held at ECU, such as the WZMB student radio station’s food and Teddy bear drive. Our holiday project is just another way to get involved,” said Leslie Craigle with ECU’s Business Services Marketing Department.

ECU departments will be participating by sponsoring a family, child or an adult in a local rest home through Pitt County Social Services. Departments also will put a “general collection” box in their lobbies, hold canned food drives or collect money to buy a bicycle and helmet for a child, Craigle said.

Donations of toys, food, warm clothing and household supply items can be left in collection boxes in places around campus through Dec. 12. They will be given to charitable agencies to benefit the people of Pitt County. Agencies include, Pitt County Social Services Children’s Protective Services Unit, The REAL Crisis Center, New Directions Family Violence Shelter, Flynn Christian Home, Pitt County Adult Services and the N.C. Food Bank.

For more information and for collection box locations, visit http://www.ecu.edu/services/HolidayDrive.cfm.

Joyner Library exhibits art by grad students

The gallery space at ECU’s Joyner Library features the work of graduate students now through Dec. 10.

The inaugural exhibit and competition, housed on the library’s second floor, includes dozens of works in ceramics, illustration, metals, painting, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood by students in the School of Art and Design.

“The Joyner Library took on a new, exciting direction to host current issues in contemporary fine arts, creative research and activity,” said Hanna Jubran, an ECU art professor who advised the Joyner Library Exhibit Committee. “By hosting this event, the library opened a new venue for artists to exhibit and catalog their work.”

USDA supports FoodMASTER initiative

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a $150,000 Higher Education Challenge Grant to an ECU project that will use food and agriculture to help college students learn math, science and nutrition concepts.

ECU’s Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Department of Child Development and Family Relations received the grant, which will support a higher education component of the FoodMASTER initiative.

This is the second grant awarded to FoodMASTER this fall. The project received a $504,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support the development and distribution of a K-12 curriculum.

FoodMASTER is an interactive, food-based curricula designed for students in kindergarten through college. It is based on the premise that children and adults interact with food every day and, without realizing it, are exposed to mathematical and scientific concepts each time they prepare food.

With the USDA grant, ECU researchers will develop college courses that use food to engage students in math, science and nutrition concepts and help them learn about the nature of living systems and the promotion of healthy living.

The project will offer an on-campus gateway foods course and a service-learning course to nutrition students and family and consumer sciences education students. It will also offer an online course open to all.

“The gateway food science course will offer an inquiry-based approach to teaching food science,” said Virginia Carraway-Stage, registered dietitian and the project’s coordinator. “We are developing video modules around farmers’ markets, lab kitchen demonstrations and grocery store experiences and will feature chefs and food experts. The College of Human Ecology’s newly-renovated lab kitchen will take center stage in our classes, but all of our food demonstrations must be reproducible for online students using their own kitchens as labs.”

Melani Duffrin, ECU nutrition and dietetics faculty member, will supervise the project, develop multimedia materials and teach the sophomore-level courses. Nancy Harris, ECU nutrition and dietetics faculty member, will be the primary instructor for the senior level, serving-learning course.