JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 23, 2025 — For Union University junior Rebekah Ruth Basie, serving at Jackson’s Birth Choice pregnancy medical clinic on Tuesday was about more than simply lending a helping hand to a local nonprofit organization.
“As a believer, if the Lord cares about life, I should care about life,” Basie said. “And not in name only.”
Basie, a sociology major from Pine Mountain, Georgia, was one of more than 700 Union University students and employees who participated in the 23rd annual Campus and Community: A Day of Remembrance and Service. Each year, Union cancels classes for the day so faculty, staff and students can serve, in gratitude for the ways the Jackson community helped Union after tornadoes hit campus in 2002, 2003 and 2008.
This year, the initiative included more than 40 projects at local schools, churches and non-profit organizations and on the Union campus.
Basie led a group of students from Union’s Life 139 chapter to help do landscaping and cleanup work at Birth Choice, in addition to laying a new sidewalk.
“Being a part of Life 139 for the past year or so and helping Birth Choice where I've been able to, I just wanted to keep that relationship consistent and help them in the mundane things as well as the things that seem like more of a big deal for the movement,” Basie said.
Tiffany Dawson, director of development for Birth Choice, said she was thankful for a large crew of students who helped the organization complete projects that otherwise would have been harder to accomplish. “Union has just been such a valuable ministry partner in defending life and in sharing the love of Jesus with the moms and the dads who come into Birth Choice for help,” Dawson said. “And so, this is just one of the many ways that Union has been so helpful to our mission and has helped partner with us in this mission to defend life.”
Caroline Lancaster, a freshman nursing major from Jackson, Tennessee, worked with her Jillz Ultimate Frisbee teammates at Jackson Central-Merry Early College High to lay pavers, rake, trim shrubs and do other general landscaping work.
Lancaster, whose mother attended JCM, said the school has been a Jackson fixture for a long time, and the Jillz simply wanted to give back. An added benefit was the camaraderie with the team.
“It’s a new level of working together and a new level of communication,” Lancaster said. “I think it will bond us more on the field.”
Nathan Lewis, the JCM principal, said as a West Tennessee native he remembers the tornadoes that hit Union, and he is thankful for how the university has served JCM in various ways over the years.
“They’ve all been friendly, and you could tell they truly enjoyed getting to work together and helping out the community,” Lewis said. “I have appreciated Union for a lot of reasons and all they do for our community here at JCM.”