OCC Connection Benefits Students

A conversation between two new friends with an Onondaga Community College connection brought an amazing event to campus. Dr. Nikia Dennis is a Professor and School Specialist in OCC's School of Health. Debra McClendon-Boddie retired from OCC in 2014 after working here for nearly 35 years. "We met through a professional and business sorority, Lamda Kappa Mu, that does community service in Syracuse and we hit it off right away," said Dennis. "We were talking about a way to help students and we thought we could bring everything here and make a difference," added McClendon-Boddie.

Their collaboration created the Women's Clothing & Accessory Giveaway. It was held April 18, 19 and 20 in the main hallway of the Gordon Student Center. Everything was free to whomever needed it. "It was really exciting to see students reaction to it. They were sitting on the floor going through bags, shopping, and having fun. One student was here for 3 hours looking through everything," said Dennis.

Ten years ago while working at OCC, McClendon-Boddie created a mentoring program for girls which blossomed into the PGR Foundation. It's goal is to prepare young ladies to live in a diverse and global society. The initials PGR stand for "poised, gifted, and ready." A component of her mentoring program includes collecting women's clothing and accessories from a high-end consignment shop, and gifting them into the community twice a year. "I was so happy to see the response from students. I didn't realize there was such a need for it here," said McClendon-Boddie. Now that they've seen the need, McClendon-Boddie and Dennis say they hope to make this an annual event at OCC.