Adult Basic Education students at RCC give back during the holidays
Adult Basic Education students at Robeson Community College have discovered that “giving is living.” This holiday season, the class voted to give back to the community, choosing to become a blessing to those in need.
“They wanted to give back to the community because they have been blessed by the community,” stated Pat McMillian, the instructor of the program. “We adopted three needy families for Thanksgiving, and we collected canned goods, turkeys, hams, and added all the trimmings.”
The ability to give back gave the students a sense of pride and accomplishment in being able to help someone during the holidays. As Pablo Picasso once wrote, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
And as students visited each family to give their care packages that were carefully bundled together, they realized the true meaning of the holidays.
“It is more of a blessing to give than receive,” McMillian said. “This is one of our projects that we are going to do from now own, be a blessing to others.”
McMillian says the students were filled with joy, and were truly blessed by their act of kindness, so much so they are planning another special giving project for Christmas.
“We are gathering blankets for the NICU in Lumberton,” McMillian said.
NICU stands for neonatal intensive care unit, a department that provides care for newborns who need a higher level of care before going home and are also known as intensive care nurseries. It’s a cause that’s near and dear to McMillian’s heart.
“We want to bless the babies with blankets at Christmas… our students don’t have much money, but when we put it together, we are able to greatly bless. I have a great group of students, they are hardworking, and they have kind hearts,” said McMillian. “They understood the meaning of giving and being able to bless someone else.”
“God loves a cheerful giver,” the Bible says, and these students at Robeson Community College are truly a living example of that.
