The power of purpose: ASU scholarships emphasize service to community

By Mel

It was the 1970s.

A young Jim Armstrong was what he calls a “hippie.”

Like many hippies of his generation, he decided to hit the road. Hitchhiking across Canada, Armstrong found himself in the city of Winnipeg in the dead of winter.

With nowhere to go, he made his way to the Salvation Army. Volunteers gave him and hundreds of others a hot meal and a warm bed, no questions asked. 

“They would have welcomed me back the next night if I would have asked,” he remembers.

That experience left a lasting impression. 

“What I saw there convinced me that there's a lot of need out there. It's the people that don't have a strong support system behind them that need that help,” he says.

“So when I eventually got some money, many years later, I decided that I would spend a good portion of the results of my success on helping people. ... Not necessarily a handout, but a hand-up so that they could make their lives better.”

By the late 1970s, Armstrong had founded JDA Software Group — now Blue Yonder Group — which went public in 1996.

By 2008, he was a managing partner of Canal Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm. True to his promise, he and his wife, Jo-Ann, established the Armstrong Family Foundation Scholarship Program at Arizona State University for students who lack parental support, are wards of the court, are in foster care or live independently.

Also true to his promise, the Armstrongs incorporated volunteering into their scholarship, providing recipients with opportunities to serve others during their time at ASU.

After ASU donors Christine, ’87 BS in health sciences, and Chuck Michaels, ’83 in finance, established an undergraduate scholarship program to serve students who might “fall through the cracks” of other scholarship programs, they met with the Armstrongs, whom they consider philanthropic mentors. They agreed that incorporating volunteerism into the Michaels scholarship would benefit recipients. They hoped that, even in the face of challenges, students would recognize the opportunities they’ve received and discover ways to give back.

It was also a powerful way to mentor students, Christine says. Like the Armstrongs, the Michaels work alongside students when volunteering. The “secret sauce” to their scholarship, Chuck says, is the time and attention they devote to their students. In addition to volunteering together, he and Christine keep a laminated list of each student, including their major and contact number, so they can stay in touch.

According to Laurie Mook, associate director and associate professor in the School of Community Resources and Development and research associate at the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, volunteering is an excellent way for college students to become active in their communities and gain experiences that are both personally and professionally meaningful.

Professionally, volunteering is a good way to explore career options and develop skills that are transferable to jobs. According to an article in Forbes, 60% of hiring managers say volunteer work makes you more marketable.

On a personal level, Mook says studies show that volunteering can boost mental health and well-being by fostering a sense of purpose and belonging.

Amy Armstrong, who is married to Jim and Jo-Ann’s son, Patrick, lost her father when she was 10 years old and her mother when she was 15. Amy, who was Patrick's high school sweetheart at the time, struggled to find a scholarship for someone without parents when she began looking at colleges. Her struggle inspired Jim and Jo-Ann to serve that vulnerable population.

It was particularly important, Patrick says, to create programming that helped students who may have never experienced a sense of belonging or a functioning family unit. And while they incorporate other aspects of community-building into their scholarship, the volunteer component has been particularly valuable and meaningful to the students.

Every year, Armstrong scholars volunteer at the Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit that serves the community of Agua Prieta, Mexico. With strong connections and friends in Mexico, Rancho Feliz has established a neighborhood, Vecinos Dignos Sin Fronteras (Worthy Neighbors Without Borders), where families seeking work and shelter are empowered to support themselves and become homeowners.

Armstrong scholars work in teams alongside neighborhood residents to build homes and distribute food to families.

“We have the opportunity to bond together and talk together,” says Odalis Lopez Villegas, an Armstrong scholar who is majoring in health care administration in the College of Health Solutions and taking premed courses to become a physician.

In the morning, she says volunteers share breakfast before breaking into teams and working from morning until evening digging foundations, mixing concrete or painting. In the evening, they share another meal and talk about the day’s experiences.

For Michaels Scholar Kara Sierka, volunteering helped her find and build a community when she was just a freshman marveling at the size and scope of everything ASU has to offer.

“When you come to ASU, it can seem so big,” says Sierka, a senior studying finance and supply chain management.

As a first-year student, she volunteered to organize a Michaels Scholarship spring service event at Feed My Starving Children, a nonprofit in Mesa that relies on volunteers to pack nutritious meals to distribute worldwide. The event was a success.

“Volunteering helps you get involved early on. ... It's a great way to build your community and help you feel like you're part of something bigger,” says Sierka, who went on to hold leadership positions in her sorority and volunteer in other ASU organizations.

Kristiam Quijada Madrid, a Michaels Scholar studying secondary education with a focus on teaching Spanish, says his volunteer experience helped him land a summer job at Olive Garden.

“That was one of the things I talked to my manager about,” he says. “I put volunteering that I've done before because it builds community service, and that's something that jobs are looking for right now.”

For Michaels Scholar Hassonil Jones, a junior studying chemical engineering, volunteering shaped one of his research focus areas. For one service project, Jones spent the day collecting trash from the Salt River bed. The sheer amount of waste was troubling, he says.

Due in part to his experience, he chose to work on sustainability challenges in the Grand Challenge Scholars Program, a program in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering that prepares students to tackle engineering challenges. Additionally, Jones participates in the school’s Summer Research Initiative by researching the replacement of lithium-ion batteries, which have a history of exploding, with solid-state electrolyte batteries. 

His volunteer experience led him to address how to dispose of the batteries properly. 

“Because if we don't dispose of them correctly, it's going to be the same as littering on the beach,” he says.

Michaels Scholar Laikyn Hedrick recently started her own business, the Toasted Bean Coffee truck, and is building a clientele in the East Valley.

Her experience volunteering at Feed My Starving Children and distributing food for families in need has shaped her approach to food sustainability, both personally and professionally.

With her food truck, she aims to waste nothing. Hedrick brings the grinds home and composts them, uses only compostable cups, uses sugar cane straws instead of plastic or paper, and regularly takes all cardboard boxes from the business to the recycling center at the Tempe Public Library.

“I feel like volunteering gave me a few different perspectives and experiences that I wouldn’t have without it,” she says.Armstrong alum Tabetha Heard, ’11 BA in psychology, says she has carried a commitment to volunteering into her professional life as a claims adjuster in Denver. She volunteers weekly at the Ronald McDonald House.

“Every year we went to Agua Prieta to build houses with Rancho Feliz, I saw more and more the impact our giving had in building an entire community, literally and proverbially,” she says.

“I have been back with them several times since I graduated, and it is truly incredible to see the difference they have made. I like to go back because it is a good reminder of how small things add up over time.”

With every volunteer trip, Patrick Armstrong says he sees students gain pride and confidence. Many don’t believe they have the experience to build a home.

“Then you give them a shovel and tell them, ‘You can learn, you can do it, we believe in you. You’re going to get this project done by the end of the day.’ 

“Then to have a whole concrete floor laid at the end of the day ... It gives them so much pride and confidence to know they’ve made a difference in somebody else’s life.”