Judson College students and community partners at 17 project sites participated in Judson’s 14th annual Marion Matters, a Perry County-wide community service initiative held each year since 2005.
This year’s Marion Matters was held Aug. 24. Approximately 167 Judson students, faculty and staff members participated in Marion Matters, which was coordinated by Judson’s Office of Faith-Based Service and Learning.
Judson volunteers worked on outdoor cleanup, maintenance and beautification at the Marion Cemetery and worked with Main Street Marion partners in downtown Marion’s Pocket Park.
Various projects
Volunteers worked with community partners at schools in Marion, from organizing supplies and cleaning at Marion Academy to assisting with bulletin boards and preparing the greenhouse for the community garden at Francis Marion School. Some Judson teams visited and participated in activities with Perry County and Southland Nursing Home residents, and others visited shut-ins in the community, spending time with homebound residents and doing yardwork.
More Judson teams completed various projects at Sowing Seeds of Hope’s Job Training Center, the Perry County Library and Eagle Grove Baptist Church. Still others installed Alabama Birding Trail signs near the entrance to nearby Perry Lakes Park.
Amy Butler, director of faith-based service and learning at Judson and coordinator of Marion Matters, said that in addition to the completion of meaningful service projects in the community, Marion Matters teaches each new generation of Judson women the importance of working with each other and community partners to effect positive change wherever they are. Citing Judson’s student life theme for the year, “Here,” Butler explained that “Marion Matters gives students opportunities to explore how they can be ‘Here,’ not just at Judson, but in Marion, through investing their time in service to our Perry County neighbors.”
Tarica Crutcher, a freshman from Huntsville, learned about being “Here” as she worked in downtown Marion’s Pocket Park with her team.
“I enjoyed my Marion Matters experience mostly because of the history I learned about the downtown area. It’s amazing what people have yet to know about our city. It’s already impacted me in a way that I want to reach out and help more people know about their community’s story,” Crutcher said.
At the afternoon debriefing session, Susan Jones, senior vice president and dean of students, reminded students that their involvement in the Perry County community can be a transformational experience. Jones explained that though Perry County is among the poorest counties in Alabama with almost 40 percent of its residents living below the poverty line, “when you get to know people in Perry County, you’ll find that, in many ways, there are people here who have much more than you do — in terms of spiritual knowledge, in terms of wisdom acquired through a lifetime, in terms of perseverance through difficult circumstances, in terms of strong relationships with people who love them and have been beside them through everything, both good and bad.”
Jones said that the time many Judson students spend getting to know their Perry County neighbors allows them to engage with the physical, spiritual or relational poverty they encounter in their community with authenticity and creativity. This approach to service is inspired by the example of Christ, who called His disciples to love “the least of these” by meeting their needs through selfless service.
Loving ‘the least of these’
Scott Bullard, Judson’s interim president, read Matthew 25 at the debriefing session, a tradition begun by the late David Potts, Judson president from 1990 to early 2018. Potts often quoted the passage as the inspiration for the activities of the faith-based service and learning program, as well as his own commitment to loving “the least of these” in the Alabama Black Belt.
Judson students will continue with other monthly and weekly service projects throughout the year. (Judson College)
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