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CIU Freshmen “Feeding
Children Everywhere”
It was only their second day of
orientation, but already CIU freshmen
and transfer students were engaging
in Christian community service. They
joined early-arriving CIU athletes on
an “assembly line” set up on the Rams
home basketball court, to package
15,000 lentil casseroles for needy people
around the corner and around the world.
The event was organized by the charity
“Feeding Children Everywhere” whose
mission is “to provide people with the
opportunity to make a tangible impact
in the lives of not only children, but the
people most affected by hunger.”
The approximately 100 students donned
green hairnets and were divided into
groups of 10 at 10 tables where some
dipped the ingredients (lentils, rice,
dehydrated vegetables, pink Himalayan
salt) into small plastic bags, others
weighed the bag, and another duo
sealed the bags while the final two
students boxed the bags with half
destined for a Columbia area food bank
and the remainder for other parts of the
world.
CIU Dean of Students Rick Swift says this
was a good community service project to
start the school year because the ministry
could be performed on campus and
helped new students get to know one
another.
“They start working together and
connecting with more than the two or
three friends they made right off the bat,
and begin to interact with other students
and get those friendships going,” Swift
said. “And then they’re doing something
to serve the community and serve the
world.”
”Doc O” Leads Prison Band
(Contributed by Clark Newsom, internal communications director, South Carolina
Department of Corrections)
Former CIU music professor Dr. David “Doc O” Osterlund is the founder and director
of what is possibly the only concert prison band in the nation. The Broad River
Correctional Institution (BRCI) Concert Band at the South Carolina Department of
Corrections (SCDC) in Columbia held its first concert May 29 in the BRCI Chapel
following a year of organization and practices.
Osterlund proudly led 46 inmates in musical numbers played on the recorder, guitar
and violin, and by the full concert band. Solos were also sung by inmates from the
group. They performed for inmates, staff and their family members. Most of the group
had little to no musical training, just a love of music and a desire to learn.
Osterlund said the band members worked hard every day to improve their individual and group performances.
“(The inmates) tell me that being a part of a musical group like this is enjoyable, therapeutic, and mentally and physically
uplifting,” Osterlund said.
Osterlund is also the co-director of the CIU Prison Initiative that offers an Associate of Arts degree from CIU to qualified inmates
who become prison chaplain assistants.
The Broad River Correctional Institution
Concert Band (photo: SCDC)
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