Volunteers Make Big Difference at Carnival on the Quad at Mississippi College

The MC baseball team enjoyed playing games with the guests of Carnival on the Quad on Oct. 24.

More than 150 Mississippi College volunteers made scores of special needs children and adults feel right at home at the university’s 2014 Carnival on the Quad.

Plenty of student-athletes and leaders of numerous campus organizations entertained visitors with balloons, popcorn, and a dunking booth at the annual fall event on the Clinton campus.

On the sun-drenched morning of October 24^th, visitors came from non-profit groups like Mustard Seed in Rankin County, and area schools and they quickly embraced the warm welcome.

“It went great,” says volunteer coordinator Shelby Hacker, an MC psychology major from Birmingham, Alabama. “It was the highest number of volunteers we’ve ever had.”

Between 150 and 200 Mississippi College volunteers turned out, she estimates. Just about every MC Choctaws athletic team offered a helping hand that Friday morning. Players on squads from football to volleyball, and from softball to track turned out. Golfers and baseball players were represented, too.

For the sea of student volunteers, their participation was well worth every minute.

The arrival of the busloads of visitors from Central Mississippi soon after 9 a.m. made an immediate impact for the MC students. “I enjoyed seeing the excitement on their faces coming off the buses,” Shelby Hacker said.

MC senior Danielle Kern of Orlando, Florida joined classmates delighted to see the children’s eyes light up for the face painting activities and fun games on the Quad.

Each year, the Mississippi College Department of Psychology-sponsored event is a success thanks to its partnership with numerous student groups and university programs.

One of the event’s leading organizers, psychology professor Rob Ward, emailed the long list of Carnival on the Quad volunteers to offer his thanks.

“From those playing catch to those gently painting faces, each pair of your hands got involved in making this a special day,” Ward said. “The sounds and images of the Carnival linger in the minds of those who attended, as we rest and prepare for Carnival on the Quad 2015.”

While so many people deserve to be recognized, Ward gave a special thumbs up this year’s energetic student leaders: Shelby Hacker, Alex Vohs, Paul Buckley, Anna Shows and Kathryn Reed. He offered his appreciation to all the men and women taking their seats on the dunking booth on a frosty fall morning in Clinton.

All of the MC volunteers, Dr. Ward said, proved to be simply amazing with their “smiles, warm greetings and just a spirit of giving.”