CommunityCORE: bookmobile and lunchbox : an exercise in rural engagement

Sponsored by the Marjorie J. and Richard L.D. Morse Family and Community Public Policy ScholarshipCitation: Allen, Z. A. (2014). CommunityCORE bookmobile and lunchbox : an exercise in rural engagement. Unpublished manuscript, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.A relative of mine always used to say, "God gave people hands, so that they can help themselves." While that statement was made with the intent of instilling a sense of work ethic in a formative child, it also charged me with the eye to see and wonder why some never seemed able to help themselves. As time went on I began to understand that we are more affected by the situations that we are born into than the opportunities that we create for ourselves. It was with this realization that I could fully appreciate the situation and contribution that all persons are capable of, given the proper chance. Bookmobile and Lunchbox seek to nurture the life-chances of rural northern Jackson County, and unearth the potential of its citizenry. It is with this in mind that I revise the phrase to, "God gave people hands, so that they can lend them to a neighbor.