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CIA is committed to helping students become an integral part of the greater Cleveland community. So the Office of Student Life and Housing connects them with opportunities to give back and help out. This year students have shown a great amount of service-oriented energy. Here are just a few examples of their involvement:

+ Students volunteered at MedWish International, a nonprofit organization committed to the recovery and recycling of donated medical supplies area healthcare providers must discard. There, they helped sort and pack incoming and outgoing donated medical supplies. After this experience, MedWish was so impressed that they are working with sophomore painting major Amanda Pierce to paint murals in their warehouse—with the help of a paint donation they secured from Sherwin Williams.

+ In November, students volunteered at the Art Therapy Studio, which provides innovative therapeutic art programs in a variety of settings around Cleveland, where people can benefit from the healing power of art. Our connections with the Art Therapy Studio date back to 1967, when it was co-founded by CIA grad Mickie McGraw '66.

+ Students will be designing masquerade masks for the JDRF Dream Gala 2011, a benefit ball put on by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation next April. Patrons of the JDRF Dream Gala raise money to fund research to find a cure for this devastating disease.

+ For Halloween, CIA students handed out candy and did face painting at the "Trunk or Treat" event hosted by Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. This activity provides young children who live in “unsafe” neighborhoods the opportunity to participate in Halloween fun at a safe location, where they trick-or-treat and play "spooky" games.

We’re proud of our students giving their time and talents to help great causes!

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Image left: Sophomore Troy Hoffman works with art therapist Rosalia Rozsahegyi to organize glazes used on ceramic pots. On the right, sophomore Kristen Magerkurth makes a holiday floral arrangement at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. All arrangements were donated to a local nursing home.