DIONE CLARK-TRUB AND HEATHER GREISE EARN ACM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD
CUMBERLAND, Md. (Sep. 1, 2020) – Dione Clark-Trub, coordinator of Academic Success and Disability, and Heather Greise, associate professor of English, were honored with Allegany College of Maryland’s Community Engagement Award during ACM’s 2020 awards presentation held during a virtual college assembly.
As Clark-Trub and Greise, co-chairs of the Student Emergency Support Special Function Committee, were nominated for their work establishing and overseeing The Pantry, a permanent food and supply pantry for ACM students in need.
Their nominators, Laura Fiscus and Ashley Dively, recognized the exemplary work performed by Clark-Trub and Greise to address food insecurity and lack of resources such as hygiene items experienced by many ACM students and their families, noting that they met all six elements of the award for community engagement, from “enriching scholarship by increasing awareness of our students and their families who experience raising food insecurity” to “contributing to the public good by fulfilling basic needs so that all students may have equal opportunities for success in higher education.”
They praised Clark-Trub and Greise in their nomination for “their hard work in getting The Pantry established and then expanding services in a very short amount of time.” Clark-Trub and Greise were instrumental in garnering campus and community support for The Pantry through grants and donations from the college’s micro grant program, individual donors to The Pantry Fund through the ACM Foundation, the Centenary Unity Methodist Church, ACM’s PASSA/ASSA Supply Drive, ACM’s Human Services Student Supply Drive, ACM’s Medical Assistant Club Supply Drive, the American Student Dental Association Supply Drive, the Calvary Cares program, the Hoops for Hunger/Pepsi Classic Basketball Tournament, the Master Gardener’s Club, the Metz Catering Food Recovery Program (a partnership with Metz Catering to package leftover food for distribution), Twisteez’s Spirit Night, Unitarian Universalist Church, and Women’s Civic Club, among others.
They also arranged for partnerships with the Western Maryland Food Bank and the UPMC Western Maryland Sun Life Grant, scheduled volunteers and work study students, and applied for United Way grant approval. Clark-Trub and Greise organized and promoted a Financial Literacy event through The Pantry in conjunction with the University of Maryland Extension office, and presented at the 2020 Maryland Community College Chief Student Affairs Officers (MCCCSAO) Best Practices Showcase: Innovations that Support Student Success. Their “Hungry to Learn: Reducing Food Insecurity on Campus” presentation was a catalyst for conversations with staff from other institutions.
During the COVID-19 college-wide closure in the spring, Clark-Trub and Greise ensured that students would have access to food. Clark-Trub volunteered once a week to fill requests for area students, and, with Greise, educated students in need on other methods to obtain needed resources.
Clark-Trub earned an associate degree from Allegany College of Maryland, a bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State University, and graduate certificate from the University of Maryland. Greise received a bachelor’s degree from Westminster College and a master’s degree from West Virginia University.
