May 6, 2010
Staten Island Neighborhoods: East Shore
Local news & events from South Beach, New Dorp, Rosebank and more
NOTABLE NEIGHBOR
Senior at Wagner College, Melissa Beck, simply can’t say ‘no’ to helping out for a good cause
By KACEY L. SEMLER
Cassia Freedland, director of the Wagner College Center for Leadership and Service,
presents the 2010 Civic Engagement Student Award to senior Melissa Beck.
RICHMOND, Staten Island — Her friends and family sometimes call her “Saint Melissa” — tongue in cheek, perhaps — but Wagner College senior Melissa Beck does have a talent for getting involved.
She simply can’t say “no” to a good cause, or to giving someone a hand — a fact that was not lost on her peers and professors on Grymes Hill.
Miss Beck, a Richmond resident who will graduate May 21 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology and education/special education, is the recipient of Wagner’s prestigious Civic Engagement Award.
The award is given to “recognize a student who exemplifies a sense of caring and responsibility for others that connects citizens and works to address community problems.” Students are nominated for the award by their peers. Miss Beck’s fellow students, who nominated her for the award, called her an “inspiration.”
During her four years at Wagner, Miss Beck has held many leadership positions on campus, including president of the Kappa Delta Pi education honor society; Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociology honor society; Omicron Delta Kappa, the leadership society, and vice-president of the Promising Student Society.
In these roles, Miss Beck has been at the forefront of a variety of charitable fund-raisers. She has helped coordinate campus events such as “Light the Night” for the Leukemia Society; the Breast Cancer Walk for the American Cancer Society; Powderpuff Football for Autism Awareness; Heels for Haiti, to benefit Yele Haiti and Haitian earthquake victims, and Canned Castle, to benefit hunger on Staten Island.
But the cause she said is “closest to my heart” are her kids with muscular dystrophy. She spends part of her summer as a volunteer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As an MDA camp counselor, Miss Beck feeds, dresses, bathes and offers vital support for individuals with muscular dystrophy. She is looking to return to the camp, located in Rockland County, in August.
Off-campus she is also a volunteer at Eger Health Care and Rehabilitation Center, not far from her home.
“I love to do charity work, and I love to help people even more,” said Miss Beck, 21.
It may well run in her family. Her dad, Mike Beck, has been active in Boy Scouting and in local civic issues, while her mom, Phyllis Beck, is a registered nurse.
Miss Beck is a graduate of Holy Rosary School, South Beach, and St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School, Huguenot. She is wrapping up her student-teaching at P.S. 35 in Sunnyside, and hoping to find a teaching position in the fall, where she can continue to apply her caring ways to students.
Advance profiles Wagner College student Melissa Beck
September 8, 2010
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