Ama Bemma Adwetewa -Badu, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Ama Bemma Adwetewa-Badu, a graduating senior at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), exemplifies a high level of dedication and commitment to identifying the main causes of hunger and homelessness within her local community. Initially, as a participant of the LEAD Academy program, a summer service leadership program for freshmen, she saw a need at the local soup kitchen and continued her service into the academic year. Through her civic leadership experiences, she developed a service program called “A Hand Up, Not A Hand Out”. This program seeks to educate others on hunger and homelessness and provide service opportunities at the local soup kitchen and food pantry. Ama Bemma’s campus involvement includes Coordinating Vice President (CVP) of Student Government Association, LEAD Academy Staff, Christian Fellowship Club, and Campus Conversations on Race. As CVP, she connects with clubs and organizations to find out their needs and acts as a valuable resource to help strengthen and expand campus life. As a leader, Ama Bemma encourages and embraces diversity, and exhibits strong problem-solving skills at all times. Ama Bemma has positively impacted her community, and her intuitiveness and drive motivates all those around her to actively observe and respond to community needs too. 
-Cynthia Brown, Interim President

I am driven to engage with the area of need that I find most prevalent— hunger and homelessness. When I was in high school, my church would have cookouts and I would be on the lookout for people walking by who might be in need of some lunch. A year into my college career, I found a local soup kitchen where I could volunteer, and very soon I was able to make it into a service program on my campus, which I now coordinate. The service I do does not feel like work; instead it feels like something that not only needs to be done, but must be done because of the impact it has on community members. The skills I have gained from this experience have allowed me to expand my service program to include educating the campus on these issues and coordinating events every so often to provide meals to the community. My civic engagement has also taught me how aware people need to be of the issues, resources, and opportunities that are available in any given community. Once you catch sight of what needs to be done, I believe that anything is possible. 
-Ama Bemma Adwetewa-Badu