Wesley Foundation celebrates 50th year July 31

3:45 p.m., May 28, 2004--The Wesley Foundation’s Campus Ministry is hosting a celebration marking 50 years at the University of Delaware with an anniversary gala and silent auction, from 6-11 p.m., Saturday, July 31, in Clayton Hall. The event is open to the public, and the deadline for reservations is June 16. Tickets are $65 per person, $40 for student volunteers and $20 for children.

“We are inviting all students, past and present, who have been part of the campus ministry, parents, the board of directors, UD administrators, the Methodist community in Delaware, and anyone who is interested in joining us is welcome,” Laura Lee Wilson, director of the campus ministry, said.

“It should be a fun evening for people to get together as we celebrate our past and future. The evening will feature a video looking back over our 50 years as an accredited Methodist campus ministry at UD,” Wilson said.

“We’ve also had a wonderful response from the community for our silent auction,” she said. Among the items being auctioned are original paintings, a handmade quilt, a weekend getaway at the Hyatt Hotel and handcrafted jewelry.

The focus of the campus ministry has been service, Wilson said. Locally, students work at the Delaware Food Bank and at Emmaus House. Students help women in transition move their belongings and collect furniture for those in need. The group also is involved in highway clean up.

Each spring break, the group goes to Lumberton, N.C., a tri-racial community where there is a lot of poverty, Wilson said. Students have put roofs on houses, dug trenches for sewers, replaced ceilings, removed asbestos and cleaned up neighborhoods there.

For more information about the anniversary gala or to make reservations, call Wilson at 368-8802 or Cheryl Deeter Merritt AS ’98, the chairman of the event, at 375-0243.

Article by Sue Moncure

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