CrossPoint Challenge warms hearts with coffee

For any student looking for a Monday morning pick-me-up, look no further than the CrossPoint Challenge booth set up in the Parker Student Union every Monday from 9 to 12.

Challenge, a local church youth group for college-aged students, has several volunteering individuals who reach out to the campus community with hot coffee, cocoa and snacks for all who would like some.

“It first started with asking to be able to give coffee or a snack to passing students,” Challenge leader, Porfirio Ramirez said. “Once we got Student Support Services’ permission to set up occasionally, it evolved to us being here weekly.”

Although the group always loves seeing new faces at their youth group on Monday nights, their main goal is to show others that they care whether or not they’re a part of Challenge.

“I just want them to know that we love them and we want to show that in a real life way,” Kara Muhs, HutchCC student said. “I started coming because it’s a community I could rely on and that could support me and build me up.”

Despite the large number of HutchCC students that attend weekly, Challenge welcomes people from anywhere and has a weekly average of over 80 attendees during their Monday night sessions.

“Our group in general has a very diverse makeup,” Ramirez said. “We have international and out-of-state students as well as many students from McPherson.”

In the future, the group would be interested in expanding their food selection and involvement on campus without overstaying their welcome.

“We would like to bring a day or an afternoon fair or carnival with popcorn and cotton candy and music,” Ramirez said. “maybe a little bit of art just to bring a little bit of life to campus.”

By the time they tear down their booth for the day, the most rewarding aspect of being able to serve the campus community is seeing the student reactions.

“I remember one time we had an ice cream punch drink and we had a lot of students say it was ‘lit’ or ‘fire’ and I love seeing the smiles on their faces,” Eric Pham, HutchCC student said.

“We want to be a service and encouragement,” Ramirez said. “We would love for people to join of course but we also realize that it may not be for everyone. But we do want to make efforts to let people know we care even if it’s a simple cup of coffee or popcorn. It’s great to see students and I love to be bringing some activity to campus as well. I like to think that not everyone has time for a snack and it’s a way we care for our community and everyone at Hutch.”

Merissa Anderson

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