Oxford continues community engagement during global pandemic


Students pack bags for community children

Like many circumstances on the Oxford College campus this academic year, community service looked very different.

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“Student organizations and staff-led efforts had to get creative with how service happened, but the mission remained the same: center the needs of Newton County,” says Ricardo Horne 21L, assistant director of Student Involvement and Leadership, who helps oversee Oxford’s community engagement.

Devin Gee, a first-year student living on campus, took part in Volunteer Oxford (VO) as a way to connect with the surrounding community – even during a global pandemic.

An Emory Woodruff Scholar from Katy, Texas, Gee acknowledged Oxford is different from other places he’s lived, so he wanted to use VO as a way to better understand the surrounding community.

“I saw Volunteer Oxford as an avenue to do this as community service is a form of outreach that helps break the bubble so to speak that exists around Oxford,” explains Gee, referring to the gap that can exist between students and their community.

VO is a year-long program that serves as the liaison between service agencies in the local community and Oxford student volunteers.

Service opportunities include mentoring students at a local elementary school, working at a local food bank, and helping with landscape and beautification work.


Quick Facts: Volunteer Oxford

• 4 VO coordinators
• 12 project coordinators &
• 12 junior project coordinators

Students spell out VOC in back of Seney Hall
Daniel Parson talks to volunteers from Oxford’s Food Recovery Network.

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm
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Daniel Parson talks to volunteers from Oxford’s Food Recovery Network.

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm

Oxford’s Food Recovery Network volunteers recovered produce from the Oxford Organic Farm

Volunteer Oxford Highlights


collaborated with Volunteer Emory to host virtual social justice dialogue with Oxford faculty member Tameka Cage Conley

packaged COVID-19 safety kits with masks and sanitizer for food pantry and Rainbow House, a shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness that was badly damaged by a tornado 

made Easter Baskets for Longleaf Hospice  

wrote letters and made door decorations for Longleaf patients

donated diapers to Covington First United Methodist Church Food Ministry

partnered with Volunteer Emory and Alumni Association to host Emory Cares fall and spring events at the Oxford Organic Farm and pack snacks for Washington Street Community Center

Volunteers created over 100 boxes filled with goodies and supplies for children in foster care..

Even though COVID-19 provided a public health reason to maintain distance during this past academic year, Gee hopes VO will continue to be a bridge between the Oxford student body and the surrounding community in 2021.

As a quantitative sciences major on the pre-health track, Gee says working with community members through Volunteer Oxford has made him consider a career in public health.

He found service plans adapted to become even more flexible. “As frustrating as Zoom is, it made events more accessible,” Gee says. “While working with the education and social justice sectors, we were able to teach and engage elementary school kids at the Washington Street Community Center from our dorm rooms and bedrooms.”

"Being active in Volunteer Oxford has pushed me to work beyond my comfort zone which I think is the purpose of college as a whole. That constant set of challenges that provide an opportunity for growth along with being able to assist others are the reasons why I keep going with VO."

Devin Gee

The stone entrance to Oxford College

Second-year student Annabelle Zekeri served as a VO coordinator who helped find initiatives, let students know about them, and then facilitated a volunteer matchup.

A biology major from Jefferson, Ga., Zekeri joined VO because she wanted to be invested in volunteer work like she was in high school. Once she became part of VO as a first-year student, Zekeri was inspired by her volunteer work at the Covington First UMC food pantry during Dooley’s Day of Service.

“Seeing or even hearing about the impact that VO has on the community keeps me going,” says Zekeri, who is learning remotely. She recalled how moved she was when Loy Turner, community outreach and volunteer coordinator from Longleaf Hospice, expressed her gratitude for receiving Easter baskets for patients.

I have enjoyed being creative in the way that I envision service. I have been blessed to learn about the numerous opportunities to volunteer without having to leave my bedroom.”

Two Oxford students with blankets for community memberrs.

Uziel Rios, a second-year student also learning remotely, served as a tutor with Emory Reads. This position gave him not only a way to interact socially distanced with his peers, but also provided a sense of accomplishment from helping young learners.

“The fact that I know I am contributing to someone’s education is more than enough to motivate me to do my best and continue with tutoring,” says Rios, who is from Hazlehurst, Ga.

Emory Reads paired college students with local elementary schools, where they provided one-on-one literacy and math tutoring to children.

With COVID-19 safety measures in place, Oxford’s Office of Student Involvement and Leadership (SIL) shifted to virtual formats for Emory Reads. Horne worked with Ansley Holder, SIL office manager, who served as the liaison between Oxford and the Newton County School System.

Oxford students provided virtual one-on-one tutoring and open hours. One-on-one matched a Newton County student with an Emory Reads tutor for the entire semester. Virtual open hours allowed students to drop in and get help from a team of four to five Oxford tutors Monday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m.

“The most challenging part of being an Emory Reads tutor was definitely the transition from in-person to virtual tutoring,” Rios says.

Even though this academic year presented Rios and other students with obstacles, he enjoyed some aspects.


“Tutoring with students one on one on the weekends not only helped them get a personalized experience but also gave me fulfillment as I watched them progress in their learning as the semester passed.”

Quick Facts: Emory Reads

• 65 K-8th students received 1:1 tutoring
• 200+ students came to the open tutoring hours
• 20 Oxford students served as tutors + 10 Oxford Service Corps students

Oxford hosted a drive-thru food box pickup in the Seney Hall parking lot.
Hundreds of boxes of food were given out to families and people in need.
A group of students sit on the steps in front of Seney Hall
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Hundreds of boxes of food were given out to families and people in need.
A group of students sit on the steps in front of Seney Hall

The pandemic introduced new guidelines for community engagement events.

“With the use of technology and working within Emory’s gathering guidelines, we planned service both virtually and in-person,” Horne says.

For Oxford’s Food Recovery Network, leaders limited the number of volunteers packing food. This student-led organization recovered unused food from the Oxford dining hall and produce from the Oxford Organic Farm. The network donated to the food pantries at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Covington First UMC. Students gathered food one or two times a week. Volunteers partnered with SIL and Laura Gafnea, director of community relations.

“Laura played a pivotal role in getting the food to the organizations often — if not always — delivering it herself,” Horne adds.

Leaders spaced out work stations and provided gloves and sanitizer to participants packing snacks for Washington Street Community Center or gathering donated toiletries and small treats to fill boxes for children and youth in Newton County foster care.

One of SIL’s most creative projects this year involved moving the Covington First UMC drive-thru food box pickup to the Seney Hall parking lot on campus.

Thirty Oxford students at socially distanced stations loaded vehicles with prepackaged boxes of food. Volunteers gave out hundreds of boxes to individuals and families who needed them.

Volunteers collected personal hygiene supplies and created boxes for children in Newton County foster care.

Area churches, Oxford College, and the City of Oxford partnered to support hunger relief efforts in the Oxford area.
Volunteer Oxford participants helped with landscape and beautification work.
Through the annual Emory Cares program, Oxford made and delivered over 100 boxes of toiletries and toys for local children in the foster care program.
Through the annual Emory Cares program, Oxford made and delivered over 100 boxes of toiletries and toys for local children in the foster care program.
“We've learned a great deal about adapting and will incorporate some of these new methods even when guidelines are more relaxed.”
— Ricardo Horne

Horne refers to online wish lists that made it easier for SIL leaders to share community needs and online tutoring that provided a new and useful format.

“Many thanks to Ansley Holder for helping to coordinate with our community partners and to Laura Gafnea and [Oxford Chaplain] Lyn Pace for continuous collaboration throughout the year,” he adds.

Oxford Chaplain Lyn Pace helps deliver items to a local food panty.

Ricardo Horne helps package food.

“I have been so inspired by the creativity and determination of our students and my colleagues during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

— Laura Gafnea, director of community relations

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A card reading Thank You Oxford in front of collected supplies

Gafnea appreciated the generosity of Oxford faculty and staff who donated supplies, food, personal hygiene items, baby products, and other essentials to partners such as the Oxford COVID-19 Relief Center and the Covington First UMC Food Ministry.

“These organizations are on the frontlines, responding to the needs of families in Newton County. I’m just so thankful to work with students and colleagues who value our community and give so readily of their time and resources to support it.”

Oxford College of Emory University | May 14, 2021

To learn more:
Please contact Ricardo Horne.

Laura Gafnea, Ricardo Horne, and Megan Hulgan from Covington First UMC Food Pantry..