By Courtney Cole/ Delta Staff Writer 

The Non-profit Leadership Alliance, also known as NLA around the Missouri Valley College campus, hosted a paint and sip for the community of Marshall this past weekend. 

Kylee Hodgson, an NLA member and women’s lacrosse player, was in charge of the event. She said the idea for it grew out of a realization that most people with disabilities had to stay within their homes since the beginning of the pandemic. Now, since the majority of them have been vaccinated, NLA thought it would be a good idea to invite them to events where they could not only socialize, but just get out of the house and do something. 

By putting the event together, NLA made a list of activities that they thought everyone would enjoy such as painting and cornhole. They decided to use St. Patrick’s Day as the theme since the holiday is fast approaching. 

The idea was for participants to paint a pot of gold with a rainbow coming out of it. Instructors were there to guide and help everyone when it came to their painting, but they could make it up and spice it up however they wanted, Hodgson said.

Snacks, which were not only healthy but green for the holiday theme, were also served at the event. The snacks were green grapes, snap peas, cucumbers, pickles and carrots. They also had a dessert included which was sherbet ice cream floats with sprite on top. 

NLA plana on having two or three more activities before the semester ends.

“It’s so refreshing to finally, after more than a year, host events that benefit the community,” Hodgson said. “We have been studying ways to serve the community, so it’s awesome to put our knowledge into action.”