Student finalist for service award
Danielle Winkler, a University of Indianapolis sophomore psychology major, is one of the top 50 finalists for the Students in Service Awards. This award honors students who engage in service projects that positively impact their community.
According to Brian Heinrich, communications director for the Washington Campus Compact and award sponsor, the Students in Service Awards are a national contest to find the best example of a great volunteer who represents their community well. The fifty top semifinalists were selected on Feb. 15.
This is Heinrich’s first year managing and directing the contest.
(L-R) UIndy freshman Nicole Votaw, senior Nicole Braun and sophomore Danielle Winkler pose with the directors of the Y-Laurelwood program. The students work with children from the local community. Photo contributed by Danielle Winkler.
“As of now there are 50 top semifinalists,” Heinrich said. “The next elimination will be pared down to 12 nominees, and then the review committees of service learning experts select the winner.”
The selection of the top 12 finalists took place on March 4. The scholarship winners will then be announced on March 18.
According to Winkler, she started volunteering with a few other girls at Laurelwood, a low income housing complex. She and her friends mentor the youth who live there.
“The kids lived rough lives in an area that suffers from poverty and abusive gangs,” Winkler said.
Winkler explained that most of the children must care for their siblings while their parents are working multiple jobs in order to pay the bills.
“It’s sad to see that the children are not as fortunate as us, but that’s what makes it so rewarding, knowing that I am making a difference,” Winkler said.
This year, Winkler took over the program as youth director and increased the number of kids being mentored to more than a hundred.
Attendance in previous years ranged from 20 to 30 children.
The children involved in this program range between ages 5 through 17 and has around 20 active volunteers.
“Programming has been able to expand to two nights a week compared to the previous years where it was only one night a week,” Winkler said.
Each month there is an over-arching theme for the mentoring. The March theme is college readiness, a month to help the children prepare for college and learn how to become responsible young adults.
The volunteers work to encourage positive character and growth in the children they mentor by serving as examples.
“We teach the children valuable life skills that we feel can help better their lives and chances to succeed,” Winkler said.
Winkler is currently working with two girls.
“The support from UIndy, as well as the YMCA, who help to sponsor this program, is amazing and they love helping with the program,” Winkler said.
The mentors also are positively affected by the volunteer work they do with the children.
“They have become a huge part of my life, and I can’t begin to explain how much they have taught me as well,” Winkler said.
According to Winkler, her supervisor, Amanda Moore, the executive director of the intercollegiate Y, told her about this national scholarship. Winkler then filled out the application along with 200 other applicants.
“Danielle is a very committed individual, and it is because of her passion, energy and her creativity that her initiative is so successful,” said Marianna Foulkrod, director of the Community Programs Center.
Foulkrod enjoys seeing students excel as a result of volunteer efforts.
“We have seen her, [Winkler], grow as a leader and as a person, and we are thrilled to know that she is nominated for this award. We are lucky to have her as a part of our family at the Community Programs and the Laurelwood Initiative,” Foulkrod said.
The Washington Campus’ goal is to recognize outstanding college students who are involved in meaningful service projects that help to fix and address issues around different communities.
“There is nothing better than showing up, seeing smiling faces lining up at the door that can’t wait to tell you how their day went,” Winkler said.
According to the website serviceawards.org, the Students in Service Awards are meant to encourage outstanding college students to continue working hard to solve critical community challenges.
“This program also motivates students to help out in the community and helps the students gain valuable skills,” Heinrich said.
