Holding Onto Hope
Giant Foods presents a check to Hope Station as part of the Hands Together for Hope Station fundraising initiative Dickinson helped launch. Photo by Carl Socolow '77.
Dickinson College Leads Fundraising Drive to Help Local Nonprofit Keep its Doors Open
by Kandace Kohr
For nearly two decades, the local nonprofit Hope Station has provided after-school programs for Carlisle children, but earlier this year, the organization was facing possible closure due to financial challenges. Having long partnered with Dickinson College, whose students frequently volunteer with the nonprofit, Hope Station reached out to Dickinson President Margee Ensign for help.
“I knew we had to do something,” says Ensign. “This is a vital resource for Carlisle and a vital resource for Dickinson. My goal is that every Dickinsonian be able to put this useful liberal-arts education into action for the greater good before they graduate so that they’ll be prepared to do exactly that after they graduate, and Hope Station is one of the key ways our students can get that kind of experience.”
So Ensign wasted no time getting Dickinson involved. Partnering with the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and Giant Foods, the college launched the Hands Together for Hope Station fundraising initiative to keep the nonprofit going. The group held two community fundraising events, and Giant Foods made a generous $5,000 gift to encourage community members and other local businesses to support the organization. In total, the Hands Together program has raised $6,500 for Hope Station.
The effort not only helped the nonprofit keep its doors open, but it also helped raise awareness and community support. “It’s a big deal,” says Hope Station Executive Director Safronia Perry. “We’re a small nonprofit. Getting [Dickinson] to the table helps people to recognize Hope Station a little more and recognize the importance of Hope Station.”
Since its founding, Dickinson has always served as a bridge between students, alumni and the broader community. The college regularly engages the local community through events, workshops and service learning opportunities. Hope Station has long been a volunteer site for Dickinson students, and it continues to provide that outlet with programs like the Homework Club, through which Dickinson students provide after-school homework help to local children.
“I started coming down for Homework Club, and I just kind of fell in love with working here,” says Keshawn Bostic ’21 (educational studies, American studies).
Like Bostic, Krystal Ramirez ’21 (Africana studies, educational studies) has found volunteering with Hope Station to be a rewarding experience. “It’s been very fulfilling getting to get to know the kids as well as the board members,” she says. “Next year, I definitely plan to be even more involved.”
Even Dickinson alumni continue to support Hope Station. Ed Ricourt ’95, who went on from Dickinson to become a successful screenwriter of such blockbuster movies as Now You See Me, was involved in the Carlisle community during his time as a student. So when Ensign recently visited him in California, where he now lives, she asked if he’d join in the effort to help Hope Station. Ricourt was eager to answer the call, speaking at the Hope Station fundraiser during his visit to Dickinson as the college’s Poitras-Gleim lecturer this spring.
“When I spoke with President Ensign in California, I asked what can I do to help foster and continue the alliance between Dickinson and the community, and the first thing she mentioned was Hope Station,” says Ricourt. “To not have Hope Station in the community would be a loss.”
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Published July 19, 2019