Published on June 20, 2016  

During the week of final exams in May, a few of us volunteered one evening to cook pancakes for students during a study break in the University Center.  I can’t say that the pancakes were restaurant-quality, but the students were hungry, which mitigated the quality of the food.  The next day, Paige Acker, Director of Student Activities and Events, wrote to me to say that four students, Micah Green-Holloway, Alan Lane, Grant Landry, and Caylee Kennedy, stayed late to clean up the mess we had made in preparing the food.  In the process, through no fault of their own, a couple of the griddles were damaged.  Paige wrote:

The griddles were still working, but I had concerns about us using them for safety reasons. I offered them to the students and they were overjoyed. They said, "We have been praying for this!" Of course, I thought, "Well that's interesting, but okay." A few minutes later they shared they had a desire to start a homeless ministry in downtown Birmingham and wanted to serve pancakes; and now they had the tools to get started.  A few moments ago, they stopped by my office. They shared they got up around 5 a.m. today and made over 200 pancakes to take downtown. They were able to serve food, share the gospel, and donate the remaining food to a local church for their ministry. They then served coffee and sandwiches with the church members, praying with the people coming in for a free meal.

The world is better because Samford students reclaim broken griddles for great purposes.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.