Goal is to connect student commuters to campus

Amanda Demilt
Antelope staff

Connecting with students is their goal and the United Campus Ministry reached out with coffee and breakfast items as students pass by the UCM house at 811 W. 26th St on Tuesday mornings from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The event the UCM now calls the United Campus Ministry Connections started four sem-esters ago in order to reach out to the commuting students.

UCM found that once students move off campus it is harder to connect with them. “It was mostly a desire to find another form of outreach specific to students who are commuters,” said John Bomberger, a secondary education senior from North Platte.

Bomberger is a UCM Student Leader and the face most students will see when they stop by the table on their way to class. Different students volunteer their time to serve, but it depends on their course schedules.

Previous outreach events had taken place in the Student Union, a location easier  to reach out to students who live on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. Now, there is a table set up outside, near the sidewalk of the UCM house every Tuesday morning to serve the commuter students as they pass by.

Director and Pastor of UCM, Laura Stubblefield, from Shelton is the UCM pastor and director. “We were looking at how are we connecting with UNK. Once a month we were delivering care packages to students on campus. How are we connecting with the off-campus students? We started formulating, putting this together,” Stubblefield said of the UCM Connections idea.

Coffee isn’t all that is offered to drink by the UCM Connections. Bottled water, bottled juices and hot chocolate are offered as well. Grab and go breakfast options are also handed out.

“Granola bars, pop tarts, donuts, coffee cake. Every week is a little bit different,” Stubblefield said. Stubblefield, with her busy schedule, somehow finds time to make homemade coffee cake and banana bread. The homemade items are usually the first to go. UCM sometimes receives donations from other ministries. In this case, yogurt or fruit are sometimes handed out.

Each semester differs on the number of students served. Two semesters ago, they were serving between 80 and 90 students. Last semester an estimated 50 students were served.

All students who walk past the UCM house are welcome to stop for a drink or breakfast item on Tuesday mornings. The cost, some may ask, is free. UCM Connections only wants to make sure students have a great Tuesday.