Its location in the heart of the city is one reason many students choose to study at Augsburg College. Being in the city offers distinct advantages to students, including opportunities to gain important career exposure and earn valuable experience that distinguishes them in the marketplace.

One example is that of Paul Hunt ’13, a professional chef turned accounting and finance major who secured an internship through his participation in the program. The program gave Hunt professional knowledge and the confidence to explore a new vocation in the world of corporate finance.

Augsburg’s location provides access to 19 Fortune 500 companies and some of the country’s most dynamic professional fields. The College currently partners with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Travelers, and Target Corp. in programs that provide learning opportunities and scholarships for students.

“Companies are actively and creatively seeking ways to build a pipeline of highly qualified, diverse employees,” said Laura Roller, senior director of Corporate, Government, and Foundation Relations at Augsburg. “We know that about 70 percent of our graduates will stay in the Twin Cities, so working with Augsburg students makes great sense from a business perspective. Companies see their partnership with the College as a way to build the skilled workforce and customer base of the future.”

From cooking instructor to accountant

The Thrivent Leadership Fellows program, which began in 2011, is a joint venture of Thrivent and Augsburg’s . The primary purpose of the program is for students to engage their peers in volunteerism through programming and events both on and off campus.

During the program’s first semester, the Fellows were given freedom to plan a variety of events based on their own interests and goals. Shannon Reidlinger, a senior new business development associate at Thrivent, said, “We stressed to the students that it was an ambiguous idea, but we wanted to let them loose and see what they did.”

Hunt, who worked as a professional chef for 10 years before he enrolled at Augsburg, drew on his experience and scheduled cooking classes on campus. He taught students food preparation techniques while they made meals for the program at Augsburg.

In addition to teaching the classes, Hunt used skills he learned in his business courses to manage a budget for his project and serve as the Fellows’ treasurer. His creativity and talent did not go unnoticed. A Thrivent employee who served as a mentor to the Fellows program asked Hunt about his career goals. Hunt said he wanted to work in corporate finance, so the employee took Hunt on as an intern in the finance partners division. When his summer internship ended, Hunt was hired as a part-time employee.

Building communities through volunteerism

According to Reidlinger, the Fellows program was a way to promote the company’s community building efforts and to teach young people about Thrivent’s services and values.

“We wanted to see if the spirit of volunteerism could extend beyond our company and our members,” she said. “Testing the concept out at Augsburg made a lot of sense because Thrivent has many existing connections with Augsburg.”.

In the program’s first semester, the student Fellows worked with more than 200 Augsburg students who logged more than 650 volunteer hours. In addition to Hunt’s cooking classes, the Fellows held ACT test tutoring sessions at Augsburg Fairview Academy and planned and served a hosted at the Brian Coyle Community Center in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. They also sponsored a “” to raise funds for the Brian Coyle food shelf.

The newest group of Fellows has built on the lessons learned in the first year of the program, Reidlinger said, and they are partnering with local nonprofits to help those organizations meet their goals through volunteerism. “I think they’re doing a good job trying to tap into their own passions and talents and being strategic about the events they hold and the way they’re getting others involved,” she said.

Reidlinger added that the program coordinators, Sandy Tilton of the Strommen Center and Mary Laurel True of the , provided support and community connections that were helpful in the Fellows’ planning processes.

Partnerships benefit students and employers

Through programs like Thrivent Fellows, students gain community organizing and teamwork skills and also learn about the importance of networking. Reidlinger said the students were challenged because they were not given a specific volunteer assignment and instead had to create programs on their own. “Figuring out how to work together toward relatively ambiguous goals was beneficial,” she said. “They learned how to be accountable and organized and how to schedule.”

For Hunt, the Thrivent Fellows program was a way to gain experience that he believed would be beneficial in his future job search. “I was self-conscious about my résumé and lack of business experience, so I felt that making connections at Thrivent was a step in the right direction,” he said.

Reidlinger added that through the program, the Fellows said they were able to meet people and build relationships—in the community and at Thrivent—which will be beneficial to the students in their future career searches.

Other corporate partnerships provide similar opportunities for Augsburg students. The Travelers EDGE program, which was launched in 2011, incorporates outreach to college-readiness programs and high schools in St. Paul, financial literacy training for college freshmen and sophomores, job shadowing and mentoring, course curriculum focusing on the financial services sector, and a scholarship program for juniors and seniors.

Mathematics professor Tracy Bibelnieks directs a program in which Augsburg students work on data analytics projects for Target Corp. The program provides internships and scholarships for students.

To learn more about internship opportunities and Augsburg’s corporate partnerships, visit the website.

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This week Augsburg students, friends, faculty, and staff members celebrate the vital role philanthropy plays in the College’s culture with multiple on- and off-campus opportunities.

The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community and philanthropic initiatives make the institution’s distinct education possible.

Give to the Max Day

GiveMn, an online resource that helps Minnesotans donate to the state’s non-profit community, will host its annual Give to the Max Day on Thursday, November 15. Augsburg College is pleased to participate in Give to the Max Day, and a $10 donation has the possibility of turning into $1,000.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on November 15, one donor will be selected each hour to receive a “golden ticket” worth $1,000 to donate to the non-profit of his or her choice.

2012 National Philanthropy Day Celebration

Augsburg College administrators, staff members, and friends will attend a National Philanthropy Day Celebration on Friday, November 16, and host representatives from The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, the winner of this year’s Outstanding Philanthropic Organization award.

Augsburg College nominated the Pohlad Family Foundation for this recognition, citing the foundation as “one of Minnesota’s quiet philanthropic heroes.”

Hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Minnesota Chapter, National Philanthropy Day honors “local individuals and businesses who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, as well as generosity of time and resources, to encourage and advance philanthropy,” according to the AFP website.

Through a written nomination, Laura Roller, senior director of corporate, foundation and government relations, detailed how the “Pohlad Foundation approaches philanthropy as a collaborative enterprise that brings together community-based organizations, neighborhood leaders, communities of faith, schools and others to jointly address issues facing the community.”

According to Roller, the Pohlad Family Foundation was the first foundation contributor to the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) when that program moved to Augsburg College in 2009.

MNUDL serves young people in Minneapolis and St. Paul through academic competitive debate, and students in the program had a 100 percent on-time high school graduation rate during the past two years. More than 330 youths participate annually, of whom nearly 70 percent are students of color and approximately 75 percent are from low-income families.

MNUDL is assisted by an advisory board and funded through individual donations, foundations, corporations, and the legal community. During the National Philanthropy Day Celebration, AFP will show a video on the Pohlad Family Foundation’s involvement in MNUDL and feature commentary by Amy Cram Helwich, Augsburg’s MNUDL executive director.

Campus Kitchen’s Turkeypalooza to benefit from Finnegans matching funds

The Augsburg College Campus Kitchen program will mark the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with its annual Turkeypalooza meal service, made possible by a food and fund drive. Now in its 10th year, Turkeypalooza expands Campus Kitchen’s ongoing philanthropic work in order to provide a traditional holiday dinner for the Minneapolis community.

This year, donations made to the program will get a boost on Give to the Max Day from Augsburg alumna Jacquie Berglund ’87.

Berglund, the founder of Finnegans Beer, will match up to a total of $1,500 in donations made to Campus Kitchen’s Turkeypalooza through Finnegans Beer and Community Fund.

Campus Kitchen representatives will collect cash, frozen turkeys, potatoes, green beans, and other items from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a table in the Christensen Center on Thursday and Friday, November 15 and 16.

Campus Kitchen makes healthy meals accessible to residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood year round. The program typically shares surplus food donated by A’viands—Augsburg’s dining services provider—with local non-profit organizations.

The Turkeypalooza event is unique in that it enables Campus Kitchen to serve Thanksgiving-specific cuisine prepared from ingredients donated by Augsburg students, faculty, staff, and friends. Turkeypalooza requires huge Augsburg community participation—food and monetary donations allow Campus Kitchen to deliver and serve hundreds of Thanksgiving meals at four sites: Brian Coyle Community Center, Common Bond Communities, Ebenezer Tower, and Peace House.

To learn more about Campus Kitchen volunteer opportunities or how to donate to Turkeypalooza, visit the program’s website.

In addition to preparing and serving meals, Campus Kitchen manages the Augsburg Community Garden and increases access to healthy food through the West Bank farmers markets. Campus Kitchen offers Augsburg students the opportunity to engage in service learning, leadership development, and community building. AFP honored the program with its Outstanding Youth Award on National Philanthropy Day 2009.

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The Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College was established in October 2003 and is one of only 15 Campus Kitchen organizations around the country. The program, which is largely run by Augsburg students, brings together the college dining service, local community groups, and individuals to plan, prepare, deliver, and serve meals.

Under the direction of staff coordinator Brian Noy and two student interns, a student leadership team coordinates other volunteers for three cooking shifts and six food deliveries each week. Meals are prepared, stored overnight, and delivered the following day. The students also give of their heart, providing conversation and offering companionship to the individuals they serve.

In the past two years, Campus Kitchen has expanded its activities:

A’viands food service—From their arrival at Augsburg in June 2009, A’viands has embraced Campus Kitchen and provides access to unused food. Donations also come from community food banks and other institutions.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)—Campus Kitchen is the site coordinator for all Augsburg CSA shares and receives six shares through Ploughshare Farm’s Food for Folk Project.

Community garden—Over three years, Augsburg’s community garden has provided space for neighborhood residents, Augsburg employees, and community organizations to grow their own food.

Summer Garden and Nutrition Education Project—Augsburg students teach neighborhood youth from the Brian Coyle Community Center and the Somali Confederation about health, nutrition, gardening skills, and cooking nutritious meals.

West Bank Farmers Market—In partnership with the Coyle Center, local farmers sell their produce once a week during the summer and fall at Augsburg. The farmers often donate unsold food to Campus Kitchen.

Service-learning—Augsburg students get hands-on learning about how resources are collected, distributed, and controlled in the “living text” of Campus Kitchen.

In its six years, Campus Kitchen has been the recipient of three awards recognizing the program’s outstanding service and achievements: Student Organization of the Year, given by Augsburg College; Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award, given by World Hunger Year in 2004; and the Great Idea Award, given by America’s Promise.

Read more about .

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But is that really the best way to help restock a food shelf?

Maybe not. After all, the barrels are heavy and occasionally contain garbage or other items not meant for the food shelves. That can of pork and beans might not be something that people from other cultures are interested in. And paying retail at the grocery story, while appreciated, isn’t perhaps the best use of your money.

Because of that, Augsburg College is conducting a food-less food drive to support the Brian Coyle Community Center food shelf as part of Minnesota FoodShare’s March campaign.

Augsburg is hoping to raise $3,000 in cash. Faculty and staff members will receive an envelope in their campus box this week. In addition, there will be opportunities for faculty and staff to donate money in the Commons as A’viands is also a partner in the FoodLess FoodDrive.

“We’re trying to change the whole idea of a food drive,” said Brian Noy, the director of the Campus Kitchen program. “Cash is worth about four times as much to a food shelf. Plus they can purchase more and get exactly what the center needs.”

That’s why the $3,000 mark is an important goal. That would essentially provide a month’s worth of food for Brian Coyle. Right now, about $12,000 worth of food is distributed there monthly. Through commodity programs and bulk buying programs, the Center can turn $3,000 in cash into $12,000 in food.

“Ninety percent of the food in our food shelf is purchased,” said Rebecca Burand, the basic needs coordinator at the Brian Coyle Community Center. “And we can purchase quite a bit more than you could at Cub or Rainbow.”

Not only do cash donations allow for the purchase of more food, they also enable the staff to purchase food that is used by residents in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Burand said about 80 percent of the people who use the Brian Coyle food shelf are East African or Somali.

The timing is also important.

“In November and December, we get lots of donations,” Burand said. “By the time we get to March, the shelves get pretty empty.”

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The idea of a campus garden started with a conversation between Abigail Crampton Pribbenow and Mary Laurel True, associate director of community service-learning, when the Pribbenows were on campus during the presidential interview process. Both women shared enthusiasm for a community garden based on the “Edible Schoolyard,” a project started at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California.

Tim Dougherty, community and civic engagement student coordinator, sees the project as both a way to promote civic engagement through a welcoming gathering space and a commitment to provide healthy food for the Campus Kitchen and neighborhood gardeners. Forty 9′ x 9′ plots are contained in the garden, 33 of which are currently spoken for by students, faculty, staff, community neighbors, and groups like the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota and the Brian Coyle Center.

Augsburg junior Ruth Senum is the garden intern. She will teach neighborhood youth groups about types of plants and the different ways they grow. For one of her activities, Senum hopes to use a Three Sisters-style garden — a Native American trio of corn, beans, and squash — to teach students about native plants and indigenous culture.

The garden encourages staff members to work together. Judy Johnson and Emily Nugent of the Office of Adult Admissions will tend a salad garden. Johnson, who says she has been an amateur gardener for decades, is looking forward to working with Nugent, who has no gardening experience. “Judy knows all about gardening, so I expect to learn a lot from her,” said Nugent. “I am excited to get outdoors and do something with the earth and to have a virtual salad right behind my office that I can work on over lunch.”

In addition to providing healthy, organic food and an opportunity to get out of the office, Johnson sees the garden as a spot to interact with others. “Gardeners tend to exchange tips and gab,” she said.

On the north side of the plots, history professor Phil Adamo’s summer class will design and construct a labyrinth with the help of Bruce Rowe, Augsburg’s head groundskeeper. Unlike the mystifying corn mazes we might find in the Minnesota countryside, this unicursal labyrinth will provide a “single path” for meditative meandering. Students interested in this course can find information at .

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