College honored for its community service efforts

 The Corporation for National and Community Service has named Flathead Valley Community College to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its support of volunteering, service learning and civic engagement. 

“We are extremely honored to have received this prestigious recognition,” FVCC President Jane Karas said. “We are very proud of our students and their commitment to serving our community and to helping those in need.”

Flathead Valley Community College is one of just two postsecondary institutions in Montana and 641 colleges and universities in the nation recognized with the honor.

During the 2009-10 academic year, 457 FVCC students provided more than 10,144 volunteer community service hours and 10 service team members volunteered over 8,000 hours of service. 

In addition, 106 Campus Corps members provided 42,668 hours or service through their clinical hours, internships, externships and student teaching.

The FVCC recognition follows another recent national honor: Nursing transfer student Katherine Emerson who was one of 135 students in the nation who received the Newman Civic Fellows Award from Campus Compact. 

The award recognizes inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country through service, research and advocacy. 

Emerson is a spokeswoman for the fight against cancer and advocate for affordable health care. A longtime supporter of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, she chaired the annual event in Columbia Falls for four years after her oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia at age 12 and later lung lymphoma.

She also volunteers at Shepherd’s Hand Free Clinic in Whitefish and works at North Valley Hospital on the medical/surgical floor on the evenings. Emerson was presented the award by National Campus Compact President Maureen Curley during the college’s spring commencement exercise May 13.