Sentinel Newspaper "In The Spirit" column
Saturday, October 18, 2014
by Alliee DeArmond,
Click HERE for column
Several decades ago, I went to UCSC to try out for a play and happened across a group of students looking for volunteers for the Santa Cruz Community Switchboard. A 24-hour crisis intervention, referral, information network, Switchboard was one of those great ideas that arose in the 60’s and 70’s.
I volunteered for a shift on the phones and within a year or so was Executive Director. When there’s no paycheck in the mix, advancement can be speedy. People called about finding a place to crash, where to look for jobs, what to do with the skunk under the porch . . . we had amazing (paper!) files and prided ourselves on following multiple trials to sleuth out answers or at least point people in some useful directions. There were even some people we called daily to make sure they were ok: free check-up calls for elderly people living alone.
Fueled by young energetic and idealistic energy, Switchboard operated under the arm of UCSC’s Interfaith Council, which provided counsel, the all important non-profit status, and some vague veneer of respectability to the overall operation. On November 9, the founding pastor of the University Interfaith Counsel, Herb Schmidt will speak on the 50-year history of the University Interfaith Council.
The event is a Benefit Banquet for International Students Inc., an organization that befriends international students coming to American Universities and Colleges. Now in its 22 year at UCSC, ISI welcomed 40 students and scholars to the University this month.
Sharing the stage with Herb Schmidt, will be the keynote speaker Viji Nakka Cammauf from India. She is president of Little Flock Children’s Homes, a ministry to orphans and widows around the world. She has served as an adjunct professor for several seminaries, is a lecturer and professor of record for the Perspectives study Program, and co-edited the textbook, "Asian American Christianity: A Reader,” which is an inter-disciplinary collection of scholarly and religious articles about Asian American Christianity. Viji Cammauf will speak on the Global impact of International Students at UCSC.
The Benefit Banquet will be Sunday, November 9 from 4 - 7 p.m. at the dinning hall of Mt. Hermon Christian Conference Center. Along with the two speakers will be the opportunity to meet this year’s international students and scholars. You can sponsor a table for 8 guests for $200, or buy single tickets for $25. The reservation deadline is October 30. Contact Peggy Pollard, ISI staff and UIC president at 239-3429 [email protected] or peggypollard.weebly.com/banquet.html.
Alliee DeArmond +
831-688-7502 [email protected]
The Word Shop 831-688-6607 companyofsaints.com
I volunteered for a shift on the phones and within a year or so was Executive Director. When there’s no paycheck in the mix, advancement can be speedy. People called about finding a place to crash, where to look for jobs, what to do with the skunk under the porch . . . we had amazing (paper!) files and prided ourselves on following multiple trials to sleuth out answers or at least point people in some useful directions. There were even some people we called daily to make sure they were ok: free check-up calls for elderly people living alone.
Fueled by young energetic and idealistic energy, Switchboard operated under the arm of UCSC’s Interfaith Council, which provided counsel, the all important non-profit status, and some vague veneer of respectability to the overall operation. On November 9, the founding pastor of the University Interfaith Counsel, Herb Schmidt will speak on the 50-year history of the University Interfaith Council.
The event is a Benefit Banquet for International Students Inc., an organization that befriends international students coming to American Universities and Colleges. Now in its 22 year at UCSC, ISI welcomed 40 students and scholars to the University this month.
Sharing the stage with Herb Schmidt, will be the keynote speaker Viji Nakka Cammauf from India. She is president of Little Flock Children’s Homes, a ministry to orphans and widows around the world. She has served as an adjunct professor for several seminaries, is a lecturer and professor of record for the Perspectives study Program, and co-edited the textbook, "Asian American Christianity: A Reader,” which is an inter-disciplinary collection of scholarly and religious articles about Asian American Christianity. Viji Cammauf will speak on the Global impact of International Students at UCSC.
The Benefit Banquet will be Sunday, November 9 from 4 - 7 p.m. at the dinning hall of Mt. Hermon Christian Conference Center. Along with the two speakers will be the opportunity to meet this year’s international students and scholars. You can sponsor a table for 8 guests for $200, or buy single tickets for $25. The reservation deadline is October 30. Contact Peggy Pollard, ISI staff and UIC president at 239-3429 [email protected] or peggypollard.weebly.com/banquet.html.
Alliee DeArmond +
831-688-7502 [email protected]
The Word Shop 831-688-6607 companyofsaints.com