The Meelia Center for Community Service at Saint Anselm College has received the 2004 Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Education Excellence Award. This award annually recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated “outstanding contributions to the well-being and success of education within the region.”
The center received the award “for the exceptional contribution of its student volunteers,” the chamber said. College President Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., noted that during the academic year, nearly 300 students contributed more than 16,000 hours of service to school children in the greater Manchester community. Activities included America Reads in Schools, the Kids Café Tutoring Center, and the Highland-Goffe’s Falls Pen Pal Program.
“The Education Excellence Award given to Saint Anselm College by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce is a tribute to the thousands of student volunteers, service-learners and interns who have contributed their time and their passion to Manchester's youth over the past 15 years,” said Daniel Forbes, Meelia Center director.
“It is also a tribute to the teachers and administrators in the Greater Manchester schools who have opened their classroom doors and coached our students toward an understanding of the challenges of education and the role of the citizen in that process,” Forbes said. “At times like this, I am always struck by how much we have accomplished as a college, and also how much remains to be done.”
Also among the impressive list of projects that Fr. Jonathan cited was the Digital Divide Program, which helps senior citizens learn to use computers and the Internet, and pairs them up with elementary school students.
“As Big Brothers and Big Sisters at Bartlett Elementary School, our students develop strong social bonds with at-risk children,” Fr. Jonathan said. “As tutors at the Youth Development Center, Saint Anselm College students make a measurable impact on the ability of residents to achieve their educational goals and, at the same time, inspire them to aim higher.”