More than 400 Howard Payne University students and personnel served at 21 community sites across the Brown County area during the second annual William B. Dean, M.D. Lecture Series and Community Impact Day on Wednesday, March 29.
“Our hope and prayer for this event is to love our neighbors by following Christ’s example of service,” said Dr. Cory Hines, HPU president. “The HPU family enjoyed working side by side for the benefit of our community.”
HPU volunteers served at American Legion Post 196; Arrow Child and Family Ministries; Boys & Girls Club of Brown County; Bringing Hope Thrift Store; Brown County Christian School; Brown County Museum of History; Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce; Brownwood Area Community Garden; Brownwood Coliseum; Brownwood Lyric Theatre; Center for Life Resources; Coggin Park; Corinne T. Smith Animal Center; Good Samaritan Ministries; Howard Payne University; Lake Brownwood Christian Retreat; Lehnis Railroad Museum and Visitor Center; Pearl Griffin Memorial Latch Key Program; Primitive Baptist Church; Texas 4-H Conference Center; and Vicksburg Retirement Community. Projects included painting, assisting with landscaping, picking up trash and cleaning facilities.
“It’s so rewarding to have this opportunity to push pause on our normal work week and take a group of HPU faculty, staff and students to get some much-needed work done with our community organizations,” said Dr. Jennifer McNiece, HPU’s director of experiential learning and professional development and Brand Chair of Free Enterprise. “I know the work is appreciated, and it also provides an opportunity for some exposure for our students to some of the great things going on in Brown County.”
Mariah Garcia, a sophomore from Aubrey majoring in chemistry and the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy, was a member of the group serving at Bringing Hope Thrift Store, collecting debris to be taken to the landfill. For her, the service day has become a highlight of the year at HPU.
“Impact Day is one of my new favorite days at Howard Payne,” Garcia said. “It gives us the opportunity to go and serve in our community and meet new people, whether they are staff, faculty, students or people in the community. It brings me joy to know that I’m a part of a university that practices what it preaches about serving.”
The projects were preceded by a message to HPU personnel and students from Trey Oakley, 1999 HPU graduate, who serves as president and CEO of Methodist Children’s Home in Waco. Oakley spoke at HPU’s Wednesday morning chapel service and at a luncheon for HPU personnel.
In 2021, HPU was awarded a $200,000 grant by the Dean Foundation to establish the annual service event. The Dean Foundation is chaired by Dr. David A. Dean, son of the late Dr. William B. Dean, distinguished Dallas-area pediatrician and trailblazer in conditions affecting children such as dyslexia and polio. Dr. David A. Dean serves as chair of the North Texas Crime Commission as well as president and CEO of the public policy consultancy Dean International, Inc. He served the State of Texas for more than a decade as general counsel to Democratic Governor Dolph Briscoe and Republican Governor William P. Clements, Jr. He also served as Texas Secretary of State under Governor Clements. He earned the Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University and the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
The annual event is open to any non-profit organization in the greater Brown County area. Information about HPU’s 2024 William B. Dean, M.D. Lecture Series and Community Impact Day will be released closer to the event date.
