Maggie Fincher (credit: Christopher Wolford)
// Words + Photos: Christopher Wolford
The shirt that Maggie Fincher is wearing couldn’t be more fitting for a conversation about volunteerism. The words “I Love You Say It Back” are printed in bold black lettering on bright white cotton. The phrase is not a suggestion, but a demand and a reminder that communication is a two-way street. The shirt, a gift from fellow Purduette and close friend Paige Beattie, is surprisingly the last thing we discuss at the end of our half hour conversation about all things volunteerism and Fincher’s experience giving her time to different causes throughout life.
During the fall semester alone, it’s an understatement to say Fincher did a lot. She planned the Purduette’s annual Barn Dance (colloquially referred to as “Bance”). She organized “the most wholesome [activity]” for My Very Own Blanket, tying no-sew blankets with other PMO students for children in foster care. She gave her time to help with Winterization, a community service activity involving prepping homes and yards of older and disabled residents in Tippecanoe County. She performed many, many shows with the Purduettes, on-campus and away. And, on top of all this, something that can’t go unmentioned: she was a full-time student, juggling all these extracurriculars with coursework, with a focus on Brain and Behavioral Sciences.
These efforts haven’t gone unnoticed either, as PMO Administrative
Assistant Lead Kris Webster, who spearheads the organization’s philanthropic efforts, explains:
“Maggie has been active in seeking out opportunities for not only the Purduettes, but all of PMO,” Webster said, noting how Fincher is “very thorough in researching the organizations that we are looking to help.”
Attention to detail is just one reason why Fincher’s efforts have been successful. Nothing demonstrates this more perhaps than Fincher’s decision to partner with Jefferson High School’s It’s My Closet store for the spring semester’s clothing drive. Started in 2005, the center provides clothing, along with household goods and furniture, to school families at no cost.
“Everybody has needs, but everybody has wants, and that’s a big thing that people overlook,” she says. “They are allowed to have wants and desires like everybody else.”
When discussing her decision to partner with this particular store, we skirt the surface of why a person volunteers their time. For some, like Fincher, the spirit of giving is part of their identity, instilled at a young age in church as an altar server. She continued her work as a volunteer during formative years, planning high school dances and serving as a Berry Buddy in a program where students team up with special education students and do community projects together or attend sporting events.“I know my place, I can make a difference somewhere else, but volunteering and giving back to the [local] community is where I want to make the difference,” Fincher said. “I understand people [saying] ‘I want to make the world a better place,’ but how are you going to do that…if you’re not even focusing on the area that you live in?”
Fincher’s time here at Purdue University isn’t quite over yet, despite me mistakenly thinking she’s a senior.
“You got one more year of me,” Fincher jokes.
Even though the future is uncertain, she has considered how volunteerism will play a role in her life post-grad.
“I feel like it will change, just realistically,” she says. “I wouldn’t really say I’m a pessimist, but I wouldn’t really say I’m an optimist either.”
“You’re a realist,” I say.
Fincher laughs, agreeing. “Once I get my footing in whatever job, whatever career, wherever I’m going to land, I will start doing things more.”
Even if the future is unknown, Fincher’s act of giving back to her community is a matter of when, not if. Like the words on her shirt, it’s a conviction, not a question.