FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

PROVIDES CHEER FOR LOCAL TEENS

Members of the Student Government Association at Danville Community College recently collected gifts for teenagers served by the City of Danville Division of Social Services. Helping to prepare the donations for delivery are: (shown left to right) SGA member Anthony Russell; SGA President Sean Davis; Jim Lindley, DCC Instructor and Counselor; JoLane Dunlap, DCC Counselor and SGA Advisor; and SGA member Justin Powell.

                DANVILLE, VA., Dec. 15, 2004 - - The Student Government Association at Danville Community College is working to make a difference for local teenagers in need this holiday season. For more than a month, the SGA has worked to gather donations of holiday gifts for teenagers served by the City of Danville Division of Social Services.

Sean Davis, president of DCC’s SGA, said the student organization seeks to give students an opportunity to help others in their community. In addition, the group’s work with teenagers provided opportunities for the college students to interact with perhaps future students.

“It’s easy to gear holiday gift donations toward babies and toddlers, thereby teenagers may be farther down the list and become unintentionally overlooked,” Davis said. “The SGA is specifically targeting teenagers because we want to offer them a positive outlook for the future, and good feelings from their community during the holidays.”

Danville’s Division of Social Services estimated their need for Christmas donations to include 30-40 teenagers. The SGA, with contributions from DCC faculty, staff and students, gathered five to seven grocery bags of gifts to donate to youth prior to Christmas. In addition to donations, the SGA will include materials about DCC, as a means of providing the youth with valuable information explaining that college is an option for them.

The project was established through a neighborhood connection Davis had with Danville Social Services Director Laura Towler. This is the first time the SGA has undertaken a project like this. Towler is encouraged by the group’s enthusiasm.

“The project that we’ve developed with the SGA will help us fill in the gaps in our donations. We see so many toys and games for younger children during the holidays that we really need groups like the DCC Student Government Association to help us where we need it most—with the teenagers,” Towler said. “It’s always important to add to our network of supporters, and any donation we get is greatly appreciated.”

Davis says he would like to see the project continued next year.

“The larger reason why we’re doing this is because we want to be involved in taking care of Danville and its communities, and part of that is ensuring the viability of the adults of the future,” Davis said. “The teenagers that we are trying to aid are the students of coming years. It’s important to provide a good foundation and a positive influence in their lives.”