Ohio Northern University student Laura Avino, a fifth-year pharmacy major from Buffalo, N.Y., has been honored with the 2015 Charles J. Ping Student Community Service Award from Ohio Campus Compact.
ONU University Chaplain David MacDonald, nominated Avino for the award. “As president of Habitat for Humanity, Laura has worked hard to make sure that the eight officers who serve under her are comfortable in their jobs and able to perform at their highest levels,” MacDonald said. “She is a great encourager and is always willing to lend a helping hand. In all of her involvement, she has shown great leadership skills and often takes on a formal leadership role.”
MacDonald added that, this year, Avino personally coordinated many of the details related to the group’s spring break work trips to Jackson, Miss.; Davidson, N.C.; and Sumter, S.C. Because of her hard work, ONU sent 120 students and University staff members to these three locations.
This was not Avino’s first spring break work trip, however. She previously attended or helped lead two other trips to Jackson and participated in a trip to Greenwood, S.C. All told, she has worked on five different houses on spring break trips and has helped the ONU chapter build homes in Ada and Dunkirk, Ohio.
Avino’s involvement on campus goes beyond her leadership in Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of many organizations, including Omicron Delta Kappa (national leadership and honor society), Rho Chi Society (pharmacy honorary), Mortar Board (national honor society), Alpha Epsilon Delta (pre-health care professional honorary), and Phi Kappa Phi (honor society). She has been on the Dean’s List each semester of her academic career, and she has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.98. She is active in the Raabe College of Pharmacy, serving on a number of committees, and has been a student representative to the Pharmacy Council. Avino also takes an active role in the University’s recycling club, serving as publicity chair, and has been a member of the President’s Club and the Catholic Newman Club.
Avino’s hard work in the field of pharmacy studies has been recognized by the college, as she has been inducted into a number of pharmacy honorary societies. She has been active in many pharmacy college outreach programs, volunteering for numerous health fairs and drug take-back programs sponsored by the college.
The Ping Award is designed to recognize and honor undergraduate students’ outstanding leadership and efforts in community service on their campus and within their community. The award is granted annually to undergraduates from Ohio Campus Compact member institutions who exhibit outstanding leadership in community service endeavors. Ohio Campus Compact is a network of Ohio colleges and universities that works to develop the civic purposes of higher education.
Link: https://www.onu.edu/node/65577
Ohio Northern University’s quality, student-centered education distinctively combines nationally ranked sciences, arts and professional programs for more than 3,600 students in its five colleges: Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law.
