By Kristin Canning

A record 489 Wartburg College students participated Monday in Martin Luther King Day activities.

Service-learning coordinator Renee Sedlacek called the effort “phenomenal” with 418 students involved in projects assisting 22 agencies, while another 71 participated in a poverty simulation. The previous record was 412 in 2005.

The projects ranged on campus from making fleece “Blankets of Love” for residents of the Bremwood Lutheran Children’s Home and care packages for troops overseas to helping agencies throughout the Cedar Valley, including cleaning a horse barn, washing vehicles, organizing clothing, and singing for and playing games with residents of retirement homes.

Sedlacek also was “very pleased” with a citywide canvass in Waverly with 48 students going door-to-door to 1,200 homes to promote disaster preparedness and volunteerism.

The students spoke to 350 residents, while distributing American Red Cross flood and fire preparedness materials and information about a new Volunteer Solutions database —a joint venture of Wartburg and the Waverly-Shell Rock United Way — that matches volunteers with opportunities.

On campus, the poverty simulation held by the Center for Community Engagement gave students a glimpse into the lives of low-income families.

Students were given the identity of a child, teen, adult or elderly person living in poverty. They attempted to make ends meet in four 15-minute “weeks” by going to work, trying to pay their bills and caring for their children.

Many were unsuccessful. Some started out the simulation homeless, others ended up evicted or had their power shut off. If parents failed to feed their children or keep them out of trouble, the Department of Family Services could take the children.                                                                     

Sedlacek led the simulation, which was started in 2006 by Dr. Tammy Faux, associate professor of social work and Dr. Kathy Book, associate professor of education. It is now held three times annually in September, January (MLK Day) and May.  

“I think students are most surprised by how stressful it actually is,” Sedlacek said. “The emotions people experienced are real.”

Laura Hempen ’14 played the role of a 15 year old with two parents at home — a rarity. Her mother didn’t have a job, and her disabled grandfather lived with them. Participants resorted to crime to get money for their struggling families.

As a teen, Hempen felt the pressure. “You can see why people resort to illegal activities. You feel like there’s nowhere else to turn,” she said. 

If participants couldn’t afford groceries from the makeshift supermarket, a community action center and “Inter Faith Services” were available for assistance. However, many participants either didn’t know about the services or lacked the transportation or time to get there — problems the poverty-stricken face in real life.

When the hour-long simulation was done, participants discussed their changed perspectives.

“You see it in movies, but don’t actually know what it’s like until you play the role,” Hempen said. “I feel like people look down on those in poverty, like it’s their fault. But once you get in a hole, it’s just hard to pull yourself out.”

Rachael Cheeseman ’15 also acted as a teen. She dropped out of the “Realville Public School.”

“Even though we knew we should be in school, we felt like we should stay home and help the family,” she said. 

Alea Baftiri ’14 felt like there was never enough time or money to care for her family.

“I realized this is something that all parents go through,” she said. “I understand why my mom is so hectic all the time.”

Sedlacek said the past simulations have encouraged some students to help the needy.

“I’ve had students want to do canned food collections, service trips, and volunteer,” she said.

She hopes students won’t be so quick to judge families in poverty.

“My hope for students that go through this is that they take this experience and share it with others,” Sedlacek said.