Bridgewater College senior John R. Hill has received the Melissa D. Jett Community Service Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership in community service at Bridgewater College.
Bridgewater College senior John R. Hill has received the Melissa D. Jett Community Service Award. The award, presented at the college awards ceremony, recognizes outstanding leadership in community service at Bridgewater College.
The award is named in memory of Melissa D. Jett, who would have graduated with the Bridgewater College class of 1999. She died Jan. 15, 1997, as the result of a traffic accident on campus. During her life, Jett was dedicated to serving others. The award is presented to a student “who has demonstrated consistent and exemplary leadership in community service while a student at Bridgewater College.”
Hill, a business administration major with a minor in political science, is from Powhatan, Va. He is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity.
Hill is a member of the Student Senate and he co-chaired its Special Volunteerism Committee. He is founder and president of the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, a non-partisan political club with the goal of generating student activism.
He is a member of the Eco-Action Club, which develops and promotes sustainable practices on the college campus and in the surrounding community. As a member of Eco-Action, Hill has participated in Earth Day events, cleanup of the North River and garden beautifications around campus.
During the 2019 spring semester, Hill participated with Loads of Love by doing laundry for the homeless on a regular basis.
Hill founded the Biggest Turkey competition, an annual Thanksgiving food drive. For the 2018 Thanksgiving drive, he led a team of faculty, staff and students who collected 600 to 800 pounds of non-perishable food, along with cash donations for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
Hill graduated on May 4 and is employed at Active Engagement, a political, nonprofit fundraising and marketing firm in Harrisonburg, Va.
