HLG begins with Helping Hands
HANNIBAL – This year more than 1,100 students are enrolled at Hannibal-LaGrange College (HLG), with more than 800 served on the Hannibal campus.
Students on the Hannibal campus represent 25 states and 18 countries.
On Aug. 28, more than 170 freshmen and new incoming students gathered at the Roland Fine Arts Center to continue their orientation meetings. New student orientation is designed to help the student successfully transition to college life. However, before students take a seat in the classroom, every new student is oriented to the culture and surroundings of Hannibal. How is this accomplished? Instead of taking a trolley tour, riverboat excursion, or museum tour, these students enter the work force.
Over the years, HLG has grown from a small junior college to one of the most respected four-year liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. HLG has been recognized for its far-sighted vision and near-sighted heart in missions.
“We have always thought missions begins at home,” said Tom Hufty, vice president for collegiate affairs and assistant to the president. “Therefore, it is our goal that we have 100 percent of our residential students participating in a mission effort while they are here at HLG.”
This is the fourth year for Hannibal’s Helping Hands, which includes service projects for over 20 community organizations and businesses. Some of the projects done this year include: highway trash pick-up for the Missouri Department of Transportation; weeding and landscaping work at an area church; clerical work at Christian Women’s Job Corps; cleaning tasks for the Girl Scouts; projects at Douglas Community Center; cleaning offices; painting; and shampooing carpets.
Cody Smith, an HLG junior human services major who serves as student coordinator for Helping Hands, testified to the benefits of the work.
“It’s a great way for new students to meet other new students,” he said. “As a freshman, I gained lifelong friendships in the three hours that I worked with other students.”
Hufty said students want to be involved in something bigger than they are.
“They want to make a difference, and they find that difference in serving others,” Hufty said. “It is no wonder HLG has been growing over the past several years. They are attracting and training students to make a difference in the culture, and the great news for Hannibal is that they are starting here.”
On Aug. 25, the HLG faculty and staff held their annual workshop to prepare for the upcoming school year. HLG President Woodrow Burt encouraged employees by speaking from I Kings.
“What are you doing here at HLG?” he asked. “I hope you’re here because you love God and want to be part of his work here on this campus. I hope it’s because you want to make an eternal difference in our students’ lives.”