University Comes Together in Prayer

#PrayforDrNelson
Prayer in schools has been an issue as long as I can remember. It is uncommon to see large prayer groups while walking through a college campus, but today at The University of North Alabama, a large group of students stood in the middle of campus to pray for a beloved professor.

Dr. Larry Nelson is known by every person on UNA's campus and he is loved by all. He is a history professor and a mentor. He teaches religious classes and holds Bible studies for all types of students. He  welcomes students into his home with he and his wife.

UNA Family Comes Together 
Dr. Nelson was in a car accident on Monday April 29 and returned to class shortly after. After complaining about a headache, his wife and daughter encouraged him to go to Hellen Keller Hospital where doctors found a tumor on his brain and rushed him to Vanderbilt Hospital in Tennessee. http://mc.vanderbilt.edu

At 1 am Monday night, over 50 students gathered at the amphitheater to pray for Dr. Nelson and praise God. The same thing happened on Tuesday at noon. Students walking by joined in to pray for a man that some of them did not even know.

Tweet, Pray, Share
Social media sites were full of prayers for Dr. Larry Nelson and his family and updates were sent out every few hours to be reposted by students and faculty. It was amazing to see what an impact one man has made and the influence he has had on the faith of the students. He openly expresses his love for Jesus Christ and he and his wife use the campus as a mission field.
twitter.com/larryverlie

Revival?
What do you think about this revival on campus due to the unfortunate news about a beloved faculty member? Do you think it's a big deal that such a large number of students met to pray in the middle of campus? Do you think it should happen more often?

DJ KG Off the Record

Kekoria Greer is a student at UNA that has started her own DJ business for parties and events on and off campus. See how she prepares for events and find out a little bit about her and about why she loves music. Check out DJ KG... off the record. 

My Cup Runneth Over

Coffee cups, tea cups, mugs...they are all different and all used daily by different people to satisfy a need or addiction. My cup runneth over. Does yours?

MVP Shoals

In order to strengthen the already strong service-oriented community of the Shoals area, UNA alum and employee Bethany Oliver has created an organization to help people help people. 

MVP (Mission Vision Purpose) Shoals is a management services organization (MSO) that is designed to help nonprofit organizations be successful. There are MSOs across Alabama, but none in the Shoals. 

“I always wanted to do the whole change the world thing,” said Oliver. “My passion changed to help nonprofits be successful so they can go change the world.”

Oliver is enrolled in the nonprofit leadership program at Belmont University, where she sparked the idea to create an MSO for the Shoals. 

“People don’t want to have to go to Birmingham for help and this will be in the Shoals’ backyard,” Oliver said. 

MVP Shoals will offer training for nonprofits in social media, charity trackers, and ways to improve the organization overall. Experts in grant writing and other areas will be training the organizations as well. 

“I am from the area and I now work in the area and I have seen so many unorganized nonprofits that make it hard for the community to find volunteer opportunities,” Oliver said. 

MVP will be a central hub for nonprofits and will include an online calendar, an online directory, a list of internships, and links to the organizations’ websites. 

“The community will be able to go one place to find out who needs volunteers in the Shoals,” Oliver said. “MVP will connect the community to the organizations.”

MVP’s first meeting will be Feb. 19 at 5:30 P.M. at Indie Spaces located in downtown Florence. Nonprofits are encouraged to send one representative to the meeting.

The long term goal for MVP is to have an office space and a staff. Oliver also wants to start a nonprofit program at UNA. 

Shoals Theater Sing A Long

Shoals Theater Sing A Long

Florence Main Street is teaming up with local businesses to raise money for the Shoals Theater by hosting a “Sound of Music” sing-a-long on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 pm at the theater. 

Emily Thompson, owner of up and coming downtown business “Indie Spaces,” is a main contributor for the fundraiser. 

“We are having a sing-a-long to show the community what cool things we can do at Shoals Theater if the fundraiser is successful,” said Thompson. 

All money that is raised from the event will go to Florence Main Street into the Silver Screen Project fund, which is the fund that will be used for the Shoals Theater. 

“The community has asked for an independent film house downtown and we are working hard to make that happen,” Thompson said. “We just need the money to make the changes.” 

The traditional plays will also still be held at the theater, but requests have been made for documentaries as well as classical and foreign films to be shown as well.

“The sing-a-long will be more fun than just a regular play. We will also have a costume contest with prizes,” Thompson said. 

The goal for the theater is $70,000. Other fundraisers are lined up for the coming months in case the sing-a-long does not raise all of the money. 

There are 700 available seats in the theater and about 200 seats are expected to be filled.

According to Thompson, Teryl Shields, head of Florence Main Street, handled most of the marketing for the event. 

Other contributors for the event include PSI Apparel and Listerhill Credit Union. 

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online, at the Kennedy Douglas Center, at Indie Spaces, or at the door.