Over 80 community members, alumni, students, faculty and staff attended the event.
On April 24, Elon Charlotte hosted its largest College Coffee to date. Alumni, non-profit professionals and community partners were invited to the Non-Profit Industry College Coffee to participate in one of Elon’s oldest traditions.
Attendees connected with members of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life and Charlotte campus team members to learn more about Elon’s engagement with area non-profits.
Since Elon Charlotte was established in the fall of 2023, the campus has worked to learn about the needs of the Charlotte metro area and support the community through student volunteering and donation drives. Associate Director of Elon Charlotte Karen Neff, partners with Roof Above, a shelter for unhoused men, each semester, and arranges for Study USA Charlotte students to serve dinner there. Human Service Studies practicum students spent part of a winter term volunteering at Beds for Kids, Roof Above, Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation and Gigi’s Playhouse, and heard from representatives from Abara: Beyond Borders and Wayfinders about their organizations.
This past winter, Lavette Shirley, assistant program director for physician assistant studies in Charlotte, led efforts to support the Charlotte Rescue Mission (CRM). CRM serves men and women at the intersection of homelessness and addiction. Elon donated two large bins of coats, clothing, toothpaste, lotion, soap, shampoo, menstrual pads and other toiletries to the women at this facility. The Women’s Law Association, an Elon law student organization, also collected women’s hygiene supplies to support Safe Alliance, a nonprofit agency providing hope and healing to those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Law students have also been active as volunteers in the community, supporting organizations such as the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Legal Aid, the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation, the North Carolina Bar Foundation, the Mecklenburg Council of Elders and more.
Elena Kennedy, Elon’s faculty fellow for community-based learning, spoke to the group at the event and shared that last year the Elon University community invested over 85,000 service hours in community organizations, about half of which were in the context of community-engaged courses. Other Elon University community members highlighted several opportunities for community organizations to engage with the campus, including partnering with classes, hosting interns, developing tailored lunch and learn sessions for professional development and participating in deliberative dialogues.
Learn more about the work of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life. Alumni can stay informed of upcoming events in Charlotte through the alumni calendar.