Ship Life Shippensburg Community Resource Coalition takes on Match Madness Partnership Slowly But Shively: Can’t Win ‘Em All

I spent my Monday morning break between classes trying to repair my life and catch up with myself after a busy weekend, which followed yet another chaotic week. During this Monday-repair-time, I listen to “Manic Monday” by The Bangles, though the mania of my average Monday is often sustained throughout the course of the week. College is no joke. Between managing our TV station’s social media and YouTube, promoting and creating setlists for my radio show and being a section editor for The Slate, my life is a daily mad dash from classes to meetings to dinners to broadcasts to (my personal favorite) my bed.

I am extremely grateful for each of these opportunities I have been given, and while I would not have it any other way, they are responsibilities that can often become stressful. Knowing this, I have made a concerted effort to do everything in my power to be at my best: completing assignments ahead of time, making to-do lists on my dorm whiteboard and setting timers and alerts for when tasks need to be completed. (The use of my Apple Calendar has increased exponentially since graduating high school.)

Calling all heroes! Kick off for this unique giving opportunity begins on March 1 and ends March 31. Join the SCRC in Match Madness!

For the fourth year, the Shippensburg Community Resource Coalition (SCRC) has been involved in the Match Madness Partnership. Match Madness is an incentive program that supports non-profit organizations in raising funds to support needs and initiatives.

With a stretch fund gift incentive of $150,000 from the Partnership for Better Health, M&T Bank, Josiah W. and Bessie H. Kline Foundation, and McCormick Family Foundation, people can use this opportunity to give more, give wisely and help advance the SCRC’s mission. SCRC will be engaging with the community to share the importance of giving for the month of March.

The Shippensburg Community Resource Coalition (SCRC) started in 2010 to respond to the need to help the community find and utilize social services. SCRC is an effort to connect residents with resources and create programs that will meet their needs. MSW Intern and Shippensburg University alum Ted Chylack has been very involved with the SCRC, particularly the Grey Matter Program.

“One of the things I love about the SCRC is that they know everything. There’s no stopping them,” Chylack said. It is important for the community to feel safe and have easy access to quality social services to reach their full potential. The programs and services that are provided include youth programs and food insecurity services. Support to the Hound Packs program will help bridge the food gap students in the Shippensburg Area School District (SASD) experience on the weekends. Volunteers get together and collect donations and bag an average of 160 bags each week. Last year, this program distributed 5,482 bags of food and delivered it personally every Thursday to schools and homes.

Match Madness will stretch the donated funds to enhance the Summer Learning Program and other youth programs. The Summer Learning Program is a free, seven-week initiative for youth entering first through 12th grade. Youth are provided with breakfast, lunch and activities such as lessons on healthy lifestyle choices and educational field trips.

There are three youth school programs:

Healthy Decision-Making Group:

Master of Social Work Intern Jennifer Harfst, and Master of Science in Counseling graduate assistant Neysa Thomas facilitate this group as a safe place for all seventh-grade students at Shippensburg Area Middle School (SAMD) to freely discuss any concerns and challenges in their lives. They are able to process this shared information and help each other make healthy decisions.

“Be Kind.” Campaign:

The SCRC and a middle school counselor, Angie McKee, worked with the students to develop the “be kind.” campaign. A “be kind.” calendar was created for the school and community to encourage them to participate in daily kindness challenges and events. Some of those events are decorating windows with kind words, going to Shippensburg University to paint kindness rocks with the students, along with much more.

Grey Matter:

This is a free, six-week school-based prevention program for Shippensburg Area Senior High School (SASHS) students that are experiencing lack of motivation, challenges, stresses, sadness and irritation. SASHS students have a safe place to come and meet with others that can relate to their struggles. Building group trust, increasing involvement in fun activities, learning and practicing new ways of thinking, and creating plans or ideas to respond to life stressors are the exercises that take place. Youth take the CES-D, a depression measurement tool before and after the group, and last year’s results showed 63% of students had an improved depressed affect score.

Chylack has co-facilitated these sessions and enjoyed working directly with the students. “I think Grey Matter is a great program because it lets students talk about issues where they may not be able to do so anywhere else,” Chylack said. He has seen extreme mood improvement and positive effects just by implementing this program in school.

Anything a community member needs, the SCRC is there. This coalition has it all. For students at the university, SCRC has provided a bridge for building community-university relationships as well. This center of excellence is a place for students to intern and enhance their experience. Giving back to this amazing non-profit is something worth considering. Match Madness supports the community and celebrates philanthropy and generosity! SCRC is asking for your support, no matter what your giving level. Every gift, large or small, will make a difference and huge impact. Your generosity will directly improve the lives of our community members by ensuring continuing to run these services and programs that support their needs.

If you would like to give toward the SCRC’s Match Madness Partnership, the link will be in their Instagram bio or on their website. Regarding any questions contact SCRC Coordinator Sonja Payne (sp-scrc@shipresources. org) or SCRC Board of Directors Chair Liz Fisher (eafish@ship.edu).

Recipe of the Week: Madi’s Tortellini

Ingredients:

½ an onion

One clove of garlic

As many slices of tomato as desired

1 tube of Italian sausage

¼ cup tomato paste

¼ cup heavy cream

1 package pre-made tortellini

As I double-check the guidelines for a class assignment, my face turns beet-red. My head feels as though it’s been stung by a thousand jellyfish as the shock falls through me: I missed a quiz that was due this weekend. I visit the quiz link, and sure enough, it has been closed. Attempts allowed: one. Completed: zero. I take a deep breath and take responsibility for the loss, knowing there is nothing that can be done except to move forward and work harder in that class. Still, I dolefully dwell on the fact that despite the endless slew of to-do lists and timers and alerts, my best efforts to stay organized simply were not enough.

There are two things that keep me going: I gave it my best, and there will be plenty more opportunities to succeed in the future in the places where I had failed in the past. I analyze where I went wrong and push myself to do better tomorrow, because if there is one thing I have learned, it is that nothing good comes from an immense dose of self-discipline. I used to practice a way of thinking where I would make a mistake, and rather than brush myself off and move forward, I would continually beat myself up over that mistake. I now recognize that the real error was within that mindset: I had confused an overwhelming self-discipline with taking accountability for where I stumbled, when in reality, all I was doing was being mean to myself.

Life is difficult enough without being your own bully. When things don’t go how you had planned, don’t let it ruin your week. Recognize your shortcomings and make tweaks as necessary, but refrain from falling into a pit of despair when you don’t succeed (and there will come a time where you will not succeed!). Just because the efforts you had made were not enough does not mean that you, yourself, are not enough. I believe that our value is not measured by our mishaps, but how we choose to improve from them.

This attitude is applicable in other contexts as well: if I wave at someone on campus and they don’t see me, I let the minor rush of embarrassment wash over me and keep it moving. Far more humiliating things could have happened, and I had good intentions. I shrug it off and tell myself my favorite saying: “you can’t win ‘em all.” I sometimes wonder how mundane and stagnant our lives would be if no one made mistakes. There would be no learning and no growing. Maybe we’re better off being humbled by the occasional loss. In the meantime, I’ll be adding a little more detail into the reminders on my dorm whiteboard.

Instructions:

1.Sauté onion, garlic and tomato.

2. Cook sausage over high heat until browned.

3. Boil tortellini in water for 10 minutes.

4. Add tomato paste and heavy cream to tomato, onions & garlic, stir.

5. Once brown, add sausage to mixture, stir.

6. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to mixture (or more heavy cream if desired!)

7. Add pasta, garnish with spinach, and enjoy!