THE MISSION MACHINE By Libbie Turner The Honors College encouraged students to develop high intellectual standards, think independently and delve into the nature of knowledge while strengthening their faith. For honors students interested in contributing more to the college, the Honors Council met once a week to plan activities and service projects. According to junior Holly Larsen, president ofthe Honors Council, some of their fall projects strove to improve connections between students and residents of White County. "We work on big projects, little projects, come up with new projects, and basically stay on top of whatever events are already happening," Larsen said. "Our administrators came to us with the idea of helping the Mission Machine." In 2015, the Mission Machine, a nonprofit outreach program to help the homeless in Arkansas, teamed up with the Honors College. Seth Simmons, director of the Mission Machine, said working with groups like the Honors College was essential to their work being successful. "Anytime we are about to find assistance from volunteers to meet the needs of our homeless friends and neighbors, it extends our abilities to change the lives of those we are reaching out to and trying to impact," Simmons said. In the month of October, the Mission Machine sought groups willing to help with a nationwide effort to collect socks for the homeless. The effort, called "Socktober," presented an opportunity for the Honors College to get involved by collecting socks from students all over campus. A bin was kept in the Honors House where students could bring sock donations byto help the efforts of the Honors Council. The Mission Machine collected 300 socks for the homeless in White County, and the Honors College planned to add the socks they gathered. In addition to the Socktober project, each Saturday a group of Honors students gathered at the Honors House to prepare a meal to be distributed by the Mission Machine team. The effort began when freshman Katherine Davis reached out to the Honors College administrator, Debbie Baird, asking for suggestions as to how she could combine her love for cooking and for homeless outreach. Baird found out about the Mission Machine after volunteering to make meals with her church's small group. She suggested Davis and other interested students prepare meals to be distributed by the Mission Machine to the homeless. "Where I grew up, there was a really large homeless community, so when I came to school, homelessness was something I was aware of," Davis said. "It's good to make connections outside of Harding. I think it gives you a better perspective on the world." Pl'Ogram director Seth Simmons stands with the 1983 gl'een Chevl'olet uan that puts the Mission Mcichine's work on the road on Nov. 1. Honors stuclenLs pl'epared the meals in the Sears Hanoi's House Lo dist1·ibutefrorn the uan to homeless Searcy residents. I Photos by Owen Brown H 2 AC A D E :\I I CS \ l
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