Students were invited to two “Spring Card-Making” events hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University’s Community Ministries on Tuesday, April 1, and Thursday, April 3.
The Tuesday event took place in the Cunningham A Dining Room and hosted a small group of students that made cards for different Community Ministries to hand out during this Easter season. According to the information sheet on each crafting table, children at the Rady Children’s Hospital, seniors at Golden Living and anyone experiencing homelessness in different areas of San Diego are the groups of people receiving these cards.
There were also rules of what could be included in the cards on this same list of guidelines, which told participants to remain gender- and faith-neutral. This meant no scriptures, religious statements, crosses or other religious symbols.
Participants were also asked in the guidelines not to include personal information like their names or statements such as “get well soon” or “feel better.” This is because there are situations within these ministries where people may not be able to get better, so the goal was to lift their spirits more broadly, according to the information sheet.
Students were provided with various cardstock, stickers, markers, scissors, sharpies and glue. All they had to bring was their imagination to fill in the cards.
The Thursday event took place in the Lobby outside of Brown Chapel right before Timeout chapel at 9 p.m., where more students were in attendance than at the previous event. The setup was relatively the same, with the long table of crafting supplies set up against the wall near the entrance to the chapel and others dispersed throughout the right side of the main entrance into the lobby.
In attendance on both of these nights was Dana Hojsack, director of Community Ministries. Hojsack said that the cards would be handed out the week of April 6 and the Tuesday after Easter.
“The Community Ministries card-making night is to give people an opportunity to do something on campus because not everyone has time to go off campus and serve,” Hojsack said. “We give them out to folks that we get to visit within the city. It’s just a fun way to encourage people [with] the ministers or friendship and presence.”
At each of these events, there was a trifold poster board that included the different names and photos of each ministry group. A description of each of these groups was displayed beside the photos, as well as contact information and scheduled events for students who might have been interested in attending a future Community Ministries event.
A bin for finished cards was set up below the poster, as well as a QR code to scan. There were also pamphlets to get connected, stickers, pins and lollipops.
“My favorite part [of the event] is that I met two new people and getting to make cards for people to brighten their Easter,” Sarah McGarry, a first-year nursing major, said.
Another student in attendance during the Thursday event was Brianna Nieto, a first-year psychology major. Nieto isn’t a part of Community Ministries, but said the community within this event was fun and charismatic.
“My favorite part of card-making was getting to hang out with other people who were also having a lot of fun making cards,” Nieto said. “It was so ‘Easter-y’ and cute, and I loved it.”
Nicole Contreras 
Steve Anderson