Held annually since 2007, WABASH Day (Wabash Alumni Benefiting And Serving Humanity) celebrates the National Association of Wabash Men's efforts to strengthen connections to the College through opportunities to give back to local communities. Here is a photo taken by our Dallas, Texas, crew at the Dallas Heritage Village.
Broad Ripple attendees included Becky & Rick Adams '74, Hugh Vandiever '91, Leigh & Rob Rudicel '92, Ryan Stephens '07, Kyle Hayes '09, Alex Moseman '11, Kathleen, Kopper & Kyle Bender '12, Liz & Scott Morrison '14, Andrew Dettmer '15, Marcus Kammerath '16, and Dan Purvlicis '16. Additionally, several pedestrians new to the city assisted after learning about the concept of WABASH Day.
Nearly 20 Wabash alumni and friends gathered in Broad Ripple. After a brief welcome and donuts from Colleen Fanning, Executive Director of the Broad Ripple Village Association (www.brva.org), the group set off to clean the Canal Esplanade, a pedestrian trail connection between College and Guilford Avenues. Using a variety of tools and gardening strategies, over 40 bags of weeds and shrubbery were collected.
The Carmel alumni group gathered at Crooked Creek Food Pantry to support the efforts of over 400 volunteers who work to serve somewhere between 1,100 and 1,300 families per month. Participants included Phil Coons '67, Ed Scahill '70, Jim Dyer '83, Tom Julian '83, Ephrem Chedid '18, Jacob Woodward '18, and Susan Dyer (DePauw '83).
George Vinihakis '15, John Flanagan '66, Tom d’Ambrosio '85, Rudy Altergott '13, Tommy Ball '92, Jacob Bollinger, Tim Trela '72, Gerrard McClendon '88, Michael Krutz '18 were in atendance for the Wabash Club of Chicago's 12th Street Beach cleanup in downtown Chicago.
By far, the most participation came from alumni, students, faculty and staff in Crawfordsville, who are pictured here.
Eleven projects were scheduled for in and around Crawfordsville.
'WABASH Day is quintessential Wabash,” said Steve Hoffman '85, Director of Alumni and Parent Relations. “At Wabash, our mission statement isn’t just words; we take it seriously. So, to have Wabash families around the country working together on one day to ‘live humanely,’ that is living our mission.'
A WABASH Day crew in Crawfordsville receives instructions.
Two students remove a tree limb.
Students and alumni working together in Crawfordsville.
Another group ready for work.
Camaraderie is the lasting effect of WABASH Day efforts.
A brief pause for a sip of water and a group photo.
Jeff Berens ‘93, Bubba Stultz ‘04, Derick Busenbark ‘03, Andrew Gonczarow ‘22, Ethan Demaree ‘22, Morgan Seagrave ‘22, Nick Caputo ‘22, and Sam Pipiras ‘22 were among the crew who prepped, taped, and painted two hallways at Sheltering Wings, a center for women suffering from domestic abuse, in Danville, IN.
Pictured here at the Dallas Heritage Village are Collin Bell '17, Tom Brown '67, Irfan Darwish '18, Jim Kipp '81, Jared Lange '08, Jim McDaniel '74, Derek Roenfeldt '79, Dan Susie '68, and Jim Thomas '73. The mission of the Dallas Heritage Village is to collect, preserve, and teach the history of Dallas and North Central Texas.
The small, but hearty, group of Wabash volunteers served World Medical Relief in Southfield, MI. Founded in 1953, World Medical Relief exists to care for the sick and poor of the world by collecting, repackaging, and shipping surplus medical supplies and equipment to places in the world where they are needed. On WABASH Day 2018, volunteers sorted medical supplies for shipping to Tanzania. On the job were, left to right: Michael Piggins ‘13, Jason Sprague ‘05, Terry Hamilton ‘89, and Kursh Alam ‘99.
Kai Chin '71 (right) and Aurelian Bukatko '73 completed work for the Nederland, CO, Library Book Sale preparations. They cleaned the area and sorted donated and old library books into 20+ categories for the upcoming annual book sale.
This year's participants in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood in Indianapolis included Kyle McClammer ’08, James Johnson ’02, Tyler Regnier ’16, Keenan Blanchford ’98, Keenan’s two sons Kayden and Beau, Jayden, Keenan's Little Brother. Josh Tatum ’03 organized the project, and Josh’s children, Lydia, Phoebe, and Noah, also helped. Additionally, several boys from the neighborhood helped with both the mulch and the painting.
Wabash alumni and friends gathered once more to improve the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood of Indianapolis with the Mapleton-Fall Creek Development Corporation.
Wabash men and women worked together successfully to paint 11 outside doors and three benches at The Villages in Indianapolis. The Villages provides services such as foster care, adoption, quality child care and early childhood development services at this location.
Volunteers included (front row left to right): Steve Henke ’12, Nick Minaudo ’16, Patrick Bryant ’16, Jon Pactor ’71, Kevin Benefiel ’81, and Doug McKay ‘81. Second row: Grant Benefiel ’16, Brock Benefiel, Julie Benefiel, and Jack Tandy ’79.
The Wabash Club of St. Louis joined forces with Tenth Life Cat Rescue, a St. Louis animal rescue agency prioritizing special needs cats, to aid the noble cause of finding rescued cats new 'forever homes.'
The WABASH Day group photo from Washington, DC.
The goal behind WABASH Day was never self-serving. Sure, there would be meaningful service – 16 projects that dotted Crawfordsville and Central Indiana as well as six others spread nationally from Washington, DC, to Denver to Dallas – but the goal was always something bigger.
“From the beginning, WABASH Day also aimed to strengthen the bonds among alumni, faculty, staff, and students and to welcome our family members, too,” said Jon Pactor ’71, the man behind the idea. “It would also provide leadership opportunities for individuals and would strengthen regional associations. After 14 years, it has proven to be a grand success.”
Yes, after 14 years, WABASH Day (Wabash Alumni Benefiting And Serving Humanity) continues to meet the challenge of improving communities and fostering camaraderie.
George Vinihakis ’15, of Orland Park, IL, captained the Wabash Club of Chicago’s efforts to clean up a Chicago-area beach. Working through the adopt a beach program, Wabash alumni gathered at the 12th Street Beach and collected nearly 50 pounds of trash from the lakeshore.
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Camaraderie is the lasting effect.
“While it was great in helping maintain one of the more renowned Chicago beaches, the overriding benefit was the camaraderie,” said Vinihakis. “What makes these events so enjoyable is sharing the moment and accomplishment with other Wabash guys. New connections were made and fostered because of this project, which is paramount to our efforts as an alumni group.”
Jared Lange ’08, of Dallas, TX, coordinated a day of fence painting at Dallas Heritage Village. Located in historic Old City Park, the museum uses its collections of historic buildings (1840-1910) and furnishings to sponsor research and to present educational programs and special events for diverse audiences.
Lange feels a strong byproduct of the endeavor is to get to know his fellow Wabash grads a bit better.
“The greatest benefit, aside from providing assistance, is meeting other Wabash associated individuals in the area,” he said. “We extend the invite to non-grads, family members, and board members. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, people are constantly moving into the community, so it's nice to learn more about each other's backgrounds and interests.”
There is value, too, in the assistance, as can be seen in the work that Kevin Benefiel ’81 and his family have championed at The Villages, a provider of foster care, adoption, child care, and early childhood development services in Indianapolis.
This was the 14th consecutive year Benefiel and his family -- wife Julie, and sons Ty ’08 and Grant ’16 – have completed projects at The Villages, ranging from painting interior walls to spreading mulch throughout the playground to painting and staining the playground equipment.
In that span, WABASH Day efforts have helped The Villages save thousands of dollars. Pactor, a regular contributor at The Villages, remembered that one year a staff member said they spread so much mulch that it saved the agency enough money to fuel their bus for an entire year.
Benefiel felt a similar impact, as well. “The improvements we’ve made both inside and out at The Villages has had a positive impact on the appearance,” he said. “However, the financial impact we’ve had in terms of saving The Villages over $25,000 dollars has been beneficial to them and rewarding for us.”
The win-win proposition of WABASH Day also resonates with group leaders like Lange.
“I enjoy to participating in WABASH Day because it's a great opportunity to assist our community and grow the bonds between our alumni,” said Lange. “It's an honor to aid an organization with other individuals who share the same passion to help.”