Letter from East Tennessee Executive Director, Sharon Hudson - January 2019

Happy 2019! As we at the Red Cross of East TN ring in the new year, we want to share and celebrate our new service learning partnership with Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC).

What is service learning?
PSCC is encouraging students, especially those who attend college on the TN Promise scholarship program, to connect with local non-profits to not only gain degree-related work experience, but also to serve others and become active, engaged citizens.

Our board of directors’ outreach committee chair, Melissa Sykes and committee member, Gretchen Sherrill, participated in PSCC’s service learning fair.  Professors accepted two committee proposals: volunteer public service announcements and social media videos produced by the Hardin Valley video production class and a community programs survey complied by the Magnolia Campus business club.

The students’ hard work and diligence on behalf of our organization yielded phenomenal results.  The community programs survey complied by the business club resulted in 1280 general responses, offered insight into which of our community programs need greater promotion and provided contacts for more than 270 individuals that reported interest in becoming a Red Cross volunteer. The video production class conducted several interviews and presented 12 videos and 2 radio spots for social and traditional media and captured the emotion and selflessness of our volunteers.

Service Learning provided a great opportunity for the students and Red Cross.  We look forward to growing this partnership and inspiring volunteerism in the next generation in 2019 and for years to come.