In Your Neighborhood: Camp inspires civic duty

DURHAM -- Civic involvement appears to be contagious -- the hope now is the various greenery some Durham youngsters brushed up against over the last two weeks isn't.

Dinh Phan, Flint Wang, Youngjoo Ha and Thomas Williamson -- all Duke University students -- created a free summer camp among the vegetation in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens for rising Bull City sixth-graders and called it the Magnolia Tree Project.

The aim here was instilling a sense of ownership and a passion for civic involvement through volunteer doings. It was about getting the students to see a need in the community, and then figure out a way to meet that need.

"By doing this, they learn to realize the power of their unique voices and understand the immediate, positive impact they can make in their community," said Phan, who is from Arlington, Texas.

Wang is from Greenwood, Ind. Ha hails from Sumter, S.C. Williamson made it here by way of Fremont. And they all arrived in Durham with a real sense of the place from which they came, something they picked up from having volunteered in their home communities.

"When we came to Duke, we wanted to continue doing that and really become engaged in the Durham community," Phan said.

So the students chose Duke Gardens as their lab, because of its utter summertime beauty. And they based the name of their project on the magnolia trees that are found in North Carolina and specifically Duke Gardens.

So then all they needed for this experiment were some young people in whom to infuse their love of community.

"This is the first camp I've done that's been community service," Durham Academy student Ian Concannon said.

Ian, 10, said camps he'd gone to in the past were fun and all, but they entailed just normal camp stuff. The Magnolia Tree Project was a great time for a great cause -- that cause being the uplift of his fellow man. And it changed the kid's whole idea of what it meant to do community service. "I always thought it was like picking up trash and stuff," Ian said.

Campers were chosen based on essays detailing exactly why they wanted to participate in the project. And those must have been nine dynamite responses, because not a single applicant was turned away.

"From personal experience, our leaders believe that the transition from elementary to middle school is a vulnerable one," Phan said. "We wanted to make sure that when they entered middle school they would have a good sense of who they were and what awesome things they were capable of, and also that they had a role of responsibility in their communities."

The project wrapped up Friday with a stream cleanup at Walltown Park.

Prior to that, the campers sold donated basil plants with pots they painted to raise money for Urban Ministries of Durham. They also put on a puppet show for the ministry.

Campers taught other children at the West End Community Center about plants native to North Carolina, and hosted a poetry reading at the Durham Crisis Response Center to encourage writing as an outlet for creative expression.

They went to Target and picked out school supplies for other Durham students, and chose to use money granted to them to buy pet toys for cats and dogs living at the local animal shelter.

Wait, there's more: The campers made sugar-free cake for residents at Erwin Garden Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and framed photographs of pictures they snapped around Duke Gardens. Why, those kids even bought a new bingo set for those residents.

The Magnolia Tree Project was funded by grant money from the Triangle United Way, as well as donations from Duke University Stores and the school's community affairs office, Phan said. Duke undergrads also stepped up with private $25 donations, she said.

Susan Concannon, Ian's mom, said the camp showed her young son that he could make a difference right now, and that impacting the community through the arts was just as vital as adopting a highway.

Moreover, the Duke students who pulled this project together modeled the sort of town-gown healing that needs to take place, said Concannon, referencing rifts between hard-partying college students and older residents living near campus.

The Duke students showed a lot of initiative and integrity by saying they wanted to do something for the community and actually following through, Concannon said. They gave up summer vacations and internships in order to pour into the lives of some kids, and in the process deposited something really rich in the Bull City, she explained.

Tell John McCann what's good "In Your Neighborhood" at jmccann@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6601.

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MAGNOLIA TREE PROJECT

As it stands, the Magnolia Tree Project was a one-time summer camp at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens to get Durham kids engaged in civic matters. But there is the possibility of another such outreach.

For now, the Duke students who started the program will keep tabs on the campers through newsletters and voluntary reunions at Duke Gardens.

For more information, contact Dinh Phan at dtp@duke.edu.

The Magnolia Tree Project campers were Xela Phillips, Walker Matthews, Laniya James, Ian Concannon, Ivan Suner, Justin Hall, Isobel Hill, Kaitlyn Wagner and Zadi Kumordzie. ---

CLOCK'S TICKING

You only have until Aug. 12 to nominate that community stalwart for an InterNeighborhood Council Hero Award. Learn more when you visit www.durhaminc.org.

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