By: Vanessa Ingram
An eleven year old boy is addicted to pain
killers and living in a dilapidated house along with several other youths who
are forever trapped in an endless cycle of drugs and poverty.
When witnessing a situation like this, we as
human beings cannot help but ask ourselves, what can I do to make a difference?
Jeb Berg asked himself this same question when he attended a CCASL retreat
during his junior year at Gonzaga University.
“I couldn’t unsee it, I couldn’t unknow, and I
couldn’t unlearn that experience.” He
said as he described his life changing experience with CCASL. Berg had
previously pursued a business degree and hoped to possibly acquire a job on
Wall Street.
But since that retreat, Berg has devoted his
life to his fellow man by serving his community and now works as the community
outreach coordinator at CCASL.
For the past 19 years, CCASL has been the center
of community involvement and outreach within Gonzaga University by providing
service-learning opportunities, managing career volunteer programs, and
referring students to other volunteer programs off campus.
Through CCASL, not only do students have the
opportunity to make a difference through community service, but they are also
given various leadership skills and challenges that have a great impact on who
they are. “It has really impacted me a
lot…” said Alicia Hungerford, a sophomore who is serving her second year at
CCASL.
Although CCASL has experienced a large amount of
participation from the Gonzaga student body over the years, there is a scarce
number of male participants in each program.
As a result, CCASL is always looking for male
participants for volunteers, especially in mentoring programs where young boys
are in need of positive male role-models.
After expressing his first experience with CCASL,
Berg also gave his opinion as to why there is such low male participation in
CCASL programs. “They try to avoid situations where they will be uncomfortable
or seem uncool, but what they don’t realize is that it is in that uncomfortable
situation where they begin to grow as a person.”
Jeb urges male students to consider joining any
of these programs because it is a life changing experience that they will not
regret. “CCASL is a place where transformation happens”, he continued.
