TULSA, Okla. — An Oral Roberts University professor is making her goal "to put the 'unity' in 'community'". She has a simple but powerful message for her students: find ways to help whoever needs it.
Professor Meg Weinkauf challenges her students at the beginning of every semester to find a cause they would like to support, and start a fundraiser. In February, her students decided to support the contracted Sodexo employees who clean the dorms at ORU.
"My students have hearts of gold, and I was so proud of them,” Weinkauf said. “They chose to give back to the cleaning people at ORU, because they do so much for them.”
The fundraiser was scheduled to begin after students returned from spring break, but the COVID-19 pandemic kept them all at home. However, the students remained determined, and eventually surpassed their goal. They collected more than $550 to help those employees.
The giving didn't end there. Weinkauf wanted to show her students that you can give to those who need it, as long as you look for a way to do so.
She decided to help farmers, by donating to a rescue farm called Sweet Farm.
Sweet Farm has started a new way of getting donations while they can't have visitors: Goat 2 Meeting. It works by taking donations and calling into a business's zoom meeting, so their cows, llamas, pigs, and more can join in.
Weinkauf made her donation and welcomed the new classmates to her Monday afternoon class to show her students it doesn’t take much to help each other out, and to share with them an important lesson: “to continue learning and continue reaching out and taking care of the people around you.”
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