Sept. 16, 2008

Article courtesy of Central Methodist Sports Information Office

FAYETTE, Mo. – The Central Methodist University baseball team spent last week working alongside 10 inmates from the Boonville, Mo., Correctional Center at the Hain House in Boonville.

Each day, Monday through Friday, a group of 10 baseball players and one coach travelled to Boonville to work with the inmates. The 10 inmates gave up the money that they would earn at the correctional center in order to have the opportunity to work outside the facility for the week.

“We chose this project because we wanted to help the community and also help those inmates realize that although they had made poor choices, they have support in their efforts to become productive members of society,” Head CMU Baseball Coach Fred Smith said.

The group spent the week scraping, priming, painting, and working in the yard of the Hain House, a historic site in Boonville. The Hain House, which was built in 1836 and owned by the Hain family until 1981, is now owned by the Friends of Historic Boonville. It is used for various activities sponsored by the Friends of Historic Boonville.

The Eagle baseball team finished the community service project by attending Sunday’s church service with the inmates at the Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church in Boonville. During the dedication service, the inmates were given certificates in recognition of their work on the service project. The CMU baseball team also presented each inmate with a team T-shirt.

The community service project by the Eagle baseball team was part of CMU’s participation in the Champions of Character program sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Each CMU athletic team completes service projects throughout the year to show their commitment to the five core values of the Champions of Character program: respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.

Founded in 1854, Central Methodist is the only United Methodist Church-related university in Missouri, and welcomes qualified men and women of all faiths and from diverse backgrounds. Its wooded, historic campus hosts a faculty of teachers, mentors, and scholars dedicated to providing extraordinary attention to the individual learner. With offerings ranging from high-school dual credit to graduate studies and a total enrollment of more than 3,000, its liberal arts and pre-professional programs are centered on a character core that has twice brought Central Methodist national recognition for its leadership in character education.  In recent years the University has attracted significant challenge grants from the national Kresge and Mabee Foundations to help build a $15 million Student and Community Center on the academic quadrangle and to fund $5 million in major upgrades to its athletic facilities.