Global Citizens Give Time to Local Need

McKENZIE (November 23, 2024)  -  A group dedicated to cultivating global citizens focused on a local need as they gifted their pre-Thanksgiving Saturday morning to the Carroll County Humane Society. After hours of cleaning enclosures, caring for the cats and dogs, and spending time in play with the animals, the 20 volunteers walked away with gratitude for the staff’s continuing advocacy for their new furry friends.

Global Citizen Adventure Corps Co-Founders Julie Hill and Stacie Freeman reached out to GCAC program participants to recruit a team for the work at the McKenzie shelter. GCAC includes a service project on each of the adventures they offer each year. Community service locally is included as part of the organization’s mission.

“Many of our GCAC programs focus on animal care,” shared Hill. “In Costa Rica we help maintain the facilities of two nonprofits which rescue, rehabilitate and release wildlife. In Italy, we had a group working with feral cats that have taken over the former site of the Roman Senate. So, coming to the humane society is a perfect choice for a project here in West Tennessee.”

Lucy Curry of Dresden traveled with GCAC in 2023 to Costa Rica. On Saturday she observed, “Being able to just pitch in a little bit and help out people is a big deal. A lot of people coming together can make a big difference in a community.”

Spending time at the McKenzie facility was a reunion of sorts, Freeman explained. GCAC is a nonprofit formed to provide scholarships for rural, economically disadvantaged students to participate in international programs and receive college credit through Bethel University. Freeman, a sociology professor at BU, traces the origins of the BU Global Studies program she also now leads to a university group formed in her early days at the school. 

“We named the group, Arete which is Greek for excellence,” noted Freeman. “And walking dogs for the Humane Society was one of our initial acts of kindness. Eventually, we expanded those good works to a hospitality house in Memphis, clean up after Hurricane Katrinia, a homeless outreach in D.C. and, finally, international trips.”

Since the early days of Global Studies, and, in the last two years with the help of GCAC donors, more than 600 students and community members have travelled to 12 countries and volunteered 40,000 hours with an economic impact of well over $1 million. GCAC, organized in 2022 with its first gifts covering 2023 programs, has seen its scholarships double in the last year and hopes to repeat that effort for the coming year.

Hill, who frequently fosters cats at her home in Union City, was pleased to be a part of the day. “I’m very grateful to be reminded that if you give a student the world, they will make it better,” she concluded.

Global Citizen Adventure Corps is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to cultivating global citizens through education, service, and travel. By offering transferable college credit and donor-funded scholarships, GCAC actively builds pathways between rural high schools, universities, and a robust network of global nonprofit partners to provide travel program opportunities to underserved students. For more information visit www.globalcitizenadventurecorps.org.