A camera, some nick-nacks, and her infamous yellow note pad. Nothing describes Mrs. Augusta Mennell better.
Mrs. Mennell has been volunteering at All Saints Lutheran Church since 1985. When she started, about 10 students came to enjoy a pizza dinner with a movie. Now, when Mrs. Mennell hosts the monthly Korean meal, she often sees up to 80 students gathered around the table. She takes photos of the students on a regular basis and keeps them stored in her dozens of photo albums.
She said she went to college at the University of Iowa, where she met a pastor that taught her a lot about giving and friendship.
"He answered a lot of my questions and helped me find my passion," Menell said.
Mennell went to school to teach, but found her passion elsewhere. She has always wanted to bring people from all cultures together. She said that her friendship has helped several students.
Aslam Rizwan, an international student said that her friendship has certainly helped him.
Mennell has a lot of students' names to keep straight. She keeps up on calling each of them often and inviting them to come visit. She said she likes to use old-fashioned methods to keep track of everyone.
Rina Saito is one of the many students that Mennell calls and invites to the dinners. Saito, a student from Japan said that she appreciates what Mrs. Mennell does for her and the other students.
Mennell has been hosting these dinners for a while and does not plan on stopping anytime soon. She said that she has been blessed with good health and wants to continue helping students until she can't anymore.
"I am at that weird age of 79," Mennell said. "God gave me health, so I am going to continue to use it."
Mennell also said that she is thankful for the support from her husband.
Mrs. Mennell's connection with others does ot stop at Slippery Rock. She still hears from many of the international students' whose lives she has touched, even 20 years later. She has received a number of gifts from students before they leave to go back to their country or once they return. Her office at the church is filled with a collection of the artifacts she has collected from all of the different countries.
"It is really quite special to me," Mennell said.
Mennell also has a display of photo albums from throughout the years. In these albums, she includes photos of students, community members, and her family. She also develops pictures of the international students at several campus events so that they can take those with them back to their home countries as a memory.
Mennell said she hopes to always be a friend to anyone in the community or on campus.
"It is an awful thing to be alone," Mennell said. "I hope that people feel comfortable coming to me to talk. If they don't I hope that someone would tell me that they needed to talk."