More than 400 Howard Payne University students and personnel participated in 16 service projects benefitting non-profit organizations across the Brown County area during the inaugural William B. Dean, M.D. Lecture Series and Community Impact Day on Wednesday, March 30. All campus offices were closed and classes were cancelled to allow HPU students and personnel to volunteer.
“Throughout the day, I was so pleased to see the HPU family at work in our community following Christ’s example of service,” said Dr. Cory Hines, HPU president. “During this event, we made community service the sole focus of all our efforts as a university. At HPU, we seek to work for the good of our community, and today was a meaningful, enjoyable opportunity for us to do that.”
HPU volunteers served at The ARK Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Shelter; Boys & Girls Club of Brown County; Brown County Christian School; Brown County Museum of History; Brownwood Area Community Garden; Brownwood Public Library; CASA in the Heart of Texas; Cecil Holman Park; Child Welfare Board of Brown County; Community Connections of Central Texas; Howard Payne University; Janie Clements Industries; Lehnis Railroad Museum; Lyric Performing Arts Company; Pat Coursey Park; and Texas 4-H Conference Center. Projects included painting, working on flower beds, picking up trash and cleaning facilities.
The projects were preceded by messages about the importance of community and service from Dr. Scott Venable, 2002 HPU graduate and lead pastor of Northwood Church in Keller. Dr. Venable spoke at HPU’s Wednesday morning chapel service and, for the first in the annual related lecture series, at a luncheon for HPU personnel.
HPU announced the annual event in early 2021 following a $200,000 gift from the Dean Foundation. The Dean Foundation is chaired by Dr. David A. Dean, son of the late Dr. William B. Dean, distinguished Dallas-area pediatrician and trailblazer in conditions affecting children such as dyslexia and polio. Dr. David A. Dean serves as chair of the North Texas Crime Commission as well as president and CEO of the public policy consultancy Dean International, Inc. He served the State of Texas for more than a decade as general counsel to Democratic Governor Dolph Briscoe and Republican Governor William P. Clements, Jr. He also served as Texas Secretary of State under Governor Clements. He earned the Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University and the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
The annual event is open to any non-profit organization in the greater Brown County area. Information about HPU’s 2023 William B. Dean, M.D. Lecture Series and Community Impact Day will be released closer to the event date.
