Student Public Interest Activities

LAVA - Legal Aid Volunteer Association

Members of the Legal Aid Volunteer Association volunteered 234 hours in Fall 2005 for Georgia Legal Services, the Houston County Public Defender’s Office, and the Jones County Public Defender’s Office. In Spring 2006, the LAVA member volunteered 184 hours at those three locations.

BLSA - Black Law Students Association

Volunteering and Mentoring at Powerhouse Youth Organization (Year Long Program)
Mercer BLSA members volunteer at Powerhouse Youth Organization on Thursdays. The after-school program is comprised mostly of African American middle and high school students. At Powerhouse, the members help the students with homework, testing skills, college admissions questions, and any personal issues that the students may have. Each member feels that it is important to be visible and tangible mentors for these young African American students.

August 15-26, 2005--Back to School Supply Drive
Mercer BLSA sponsored a Back to School Supply Drive for the needy children in the Middle Georgia Area. The Supply Drive was opened to the whole student body and students from different student organizations donated supplies. The collected supplies where given to the Beulahland Bible Church for distribution throughout the Middle Georgia Area.

September 12-30, 2005--Hurricane Katrina Relief Drive
After Hurricane Katrina devastated so many lives in the Gulf Coast region, Mercer BLSA took on the initiative of collecting items for displaced residents now located in the Middle Georgia Area. During the month of September, our chapter collected items in our student lounge from the student body, faculty, and staff. The drive was extremely successful and numerous items and monies were collected. All the donated items were given to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department Disaster Relief Effort and placed on to the local displaced residents.

Black Health Awareness Month—October 2005
During the Month of October, Mercer BLSA sponsored Black Health Awareness Month. The goal of this initiative was to educate the BLSA membership, the Mercer student body, and the local community of the diseases that disproportionately affect the African American community.
During the week of October 10-14 the chapter highlighted HIV/AIDS. The chapter set up a table display with educational materials, testing site information, and prevention information. At the end of the week, the educational materials were given to the student body.
During the week of October 17-21 the chapter focused on Diabetes. The chapter set up a table display with educational materials, prevention information, and healthy lifestyle information for those with diabetes. The chapter provided information to the student body on testing themselves for diabetes.
During the week of October 24-28 the chapter featured Sickle Cell Anemia. The chapter set up a table display with educational material and testing information. On Friday, October 28 the chapter sponsored on site Sickle Cell Anemia Screening at the law school. The testing was done in conjunction with the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation of Georgia. 25 people were screened for Sickle Cell Anemia, several of whom had never been tested before.

October 26, 2005--Playdate at Georgia Children's Hospital
Every year, Mercer BLSA conducts at playdate at the Georgia Children’s Hospital for the children patients. This year, the playdate had a Halloween theme. The members read book with the patients, played games, and decorated Halloween candy bags with the children. The chapter made bags and gave candy to those patients that were too sick to attend the playdate.

November 11, 2005--Feed the Homeless--National Day of Service Event
As our National Day of Service Event, Mercer BLSA participated in our annual event Feed the Homeless at Hosley Temple CME Church. Chapter members prepared and served meals to local homeless persons. The members prepared a full Thanksgiving spread for the homeless and had enough food for the people to take food with them.

November 9-December 13, 2005 Angel Tree
During the months of November and December, Mercer BLSA sponsored our Angel Tree project. Because the Southeast Angel Tree children had already been given to local churches, our chapter sponsored our Angel Tree event by adopting the children at the Macon Youth Development Center. During the month, the chapter set up a Christmas tree in our student lounge. A tag with the gifts needed was placed on the tree and students and faculty were able to pick a tag off the tree. The project was such a success that Mercer’s SBA decided to participated in our event. All the collected gifts were given to the Macon Youth Development Center.

February 27, 2006—Red Cross Blood Drive
The Mercer BLSA chapter sponsored a Blood Drive with the Macon Red Cross. The Blood Drive was held at the school and open to the whole Mercer community.

March 4, 2006—Bowl for Kid’s Sake
BLSA participated in Bowl for Kid’s Sake, a program to raise funds for the Macon Big Brother/Big Sisters Mentoring Program. At this program, BLSA members were sponsored either by a flat rate or by a per pin rate. BLSA members raised over $500 for this great program.

April 10-14, 2006—Care Packages for Troops Over Seas
BLSA is sponsored a care package drive to collect materials and food to send to troops over seas. This program is extremely important to BLSA, as some of our members have family members over seas. After collection, BLSA sent the goods to the troops for them to enjoy.

April—Eat Well, Test Well
BLSA helped to prepare area students for standardize test with this program, which provided breakfast foods to students during the week of testing. A well-balanced breakfast is an essential part of performing well on standardize tests.

CLS - Christian Legal Society

Power House Volunteers
CLS members volunteered at this inner-city youth outreach center every other week in both the fall and spring semesters.

Hurricane Recovery
CLS members traveled to Waveland, Mississippi over Spring Break 2006 to assist with Hurricane Recovery.

AWLS - Association of Women Law Students

AWLS Spring Charity Auction
AWLS member and attendees raised over $2,000 for the Ronald McDonald House and $4,000 for In Our Best Interest. The auction is an annual event.

Susan G. Komen Foundation
Through activities like the pink pancake breakfast and pink bracelet sales, the Mercer Law Race for the Cure team donated $240 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Habitat for Humanity
AWLS members participating in a build in the fall.

Used Book Sale
AWLS encouraged the law school community to donate old books and then had a sale at the law school. The total raised was $210 donated to Loaves and Fishes.

SBA - Student Bar Association

Rebuilding Together
SBA Members and other law students spent day during the Spring of 2006 working on a community service project with Rebuilding Together.

MLMVA - Mercer Law Military Veterans Association

Deployed spouses support network
2 Potluck dinners for spouses of deployed servicemembers.

Veterans Day Event:
Flag raising at 11:00 am Veterans Day, November 11th. The speaker was Col. John Cole, and approximately 50 students attended.

Fund Raiser:
Texas Hold-em tournament with funds raised going to Veterans of Foreign War’s Operation Uplink- a program that provides calling cards to deployed service members. Raised $386.

Prospective/Incoming student support:
Each year Mercer has a significant number of prospective students coming from the military. MLMVA assisted in answering questions and aiding in the transition process for these students.