Campus Compact

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Home > Initiatives > Awards Programs > Newman Civic Fellows Award 2013 > The 2013 Newman Civic Fellows > Sarah Schafer, Westminster College

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Sarah Schafer, Westminster College

Sarah Schafer, a sophomore at Westminster College, cares deeply about the state of Salt Lake City’s educational and refugee services system. Sarah has taken great initiative in working with local refugee students to tutor and mentor them and also to encourage other college students to join her in her efforts. She serves as a program coordinator for “Mentoring for Moo” that enlists Westminster College students to tutor and mentor students at a local youth refugee after school program, Hser Ner Moo (HNM) Community and Welcome Center, throughout the academic year. Since the start of this program, Sarah has gotten a two-hour a week commitment from twenty Westminster students to serve as tutors and mentors at the HNM Center. She also serves as a Westminster College Peer Mentor for a Balanced Lifestyle, as well as an interpreter for a clinic that provides healthcare for the uninsured. She has organized a coat drive, a holiday helper program, and served as a soccer coach for the HNM Center. Sarah has a passion to make a positive impact on our community. This passion, combined with her leadership skills to get others involved, directly contributes to positive change in her community.

I have always had a drive to serve others and work for the common good. But I never fully realized that I could go beyond volunteerism--that my opinion and hard work could influence policy decisions. My views changed when I sat in the office of one of my legislators in Washington, DC."

-Amanda Coffin, University of Maine at Farmington, Campus Compact student leader