{"id":59,"date":"2013-06-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=59"},"modified":"2024-04-02T15:35:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:35:47","slug":"mary-ellen-hurley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/mary-ellen-hurley\/","title":{"rendered":"In the numbers game, Hurley comes out a winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

New alum using sociology background to aid Kauai residents<\/h2>\n

Mary Ellen Hurley\u2019s life story is long and complicated, but one can try to sum it up with a series of numbers.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Mary<\/div>\n

Mary Ellen Hurley’s volunteer work at a community garden helps feed 300 families each week on the island of Kauai. (Photo by Kit Furderer | Kine by Design<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She spent 21 years in Dayton, Ore., as the neighborhood \u201cmom\u201d to pregnant teens and wayward kids who needed help that no one else was willing to give.<\/p>\n

She has undergone 29 surgeries \u2013 back, jaw, abdomen, you name it \u2013 as an adult. Her back is held together by two titanium cages. Twice she narrowly escaped death by being resuscitated on an operating table.<\/p>\n

Hurley used to drive 100 miles each day from Dayton to Corvallis and back for her Oregon State classes.<\/p>\n

In 2011, she packed up and moved 2,600 miles to Kauai in the middle of her studies as an OSU Ecampus student.<\/p>\n

Using her online coursework in rural environmental sociology as a guide, she volunteers at a community garden and food pantry that combine to feed 300 families every week. The locals call her \u201cAuntie.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in June \u2013 two months before she turned 52 \u2013 Hurley earned her first college degree. To top it off, in August she won the Outstanding Non-Traditional Student Award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association’s West Region, which represents more than 60 institutions.<\/p>\n

It was an educational journey that took more than 30 years to complete, but she sees it as the beginning of perhaps the most important work of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I do anything, my whole focus is on creating a win-win situation for everybody,\u201d she said. \u201cSo when I went back to school, I wanted a degree that would get me more than just a job. I wanted a career where I could go out and help people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurley didn\u2019t waste any time, either. When the opportunity arose to move to Kauai, she left as soon as possible in order to immerse herself in the culture, volunteer in the community and understand the island\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

What she discovered was sobering.<\/p>\n

Kauai faces a major food insecurity crisis, and the cost of food delivered from the mainland United States is too expensive for many families to afford. Hurley\u2019s work with the community garden at the Lihue United Church helps the island\u2019s underserved residents create a more self-sustainable environment, providing fresh vegetables and teaching locals how to grow the foods themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is not just to give them fresh food and vegetables, but we want to teach them how to cook the food to get the best nutrient value out of it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe people on the island are very proud and to ask for help is not an easy thing. We want them to know help is always available to them through our garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurley is the embodiment of Oregon State\u2019s land grant mission, having earned an education from a distance with the sole objective of using her OSU-based knowledge to positively impact Kauai\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Mary<\/div>\n

(Photo by Kit Furderer | Kine by Design<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She said her Ecampus classes provided a wealth of information and dynamic discussions with classmates and instructors via Skype and online chats that helped her understand societal issues \u2013 and how to properly address them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water on the west side of the island is being polluted by runoff from the fields, and the people in low-income situations don\u2019t know how to fight against it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to help them see how their lives are being affected by environmental degradation. With the right choices they can break the cycle of poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurley\u2019s selfless work has not gone unrewarded. She was honored in a speech by OSU President Ed Ray at the commencement ceremony in June, and in July she was appointed as the director of the Lihue United Church\u2019s community garden.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what most people would call a win-win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to overcome a lot to get here and it\u2019s taken a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a little more soreness as I get older, but gardening and feeding the poor has given me reason to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>New alum using sociology background to aid Kauai residents Mary Ellen Hurley\u2019s life story is long and complicated, but one can try to sum it up with a series of numbers. Mary Ellen Hurley’s volunteer work at a community garden helps feed 300 families each week on the island of Kauai. (Photo by Kit Furderer … In the numbers game, Hurley comes out a winner<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":654,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/mary-ellen-dello-stritto\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":0},"title":"Getting to know Mary Ellen Dello Stritto","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"November 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It took one high school psychology class to kick-start Mary Ellen Dello Stritto's lifelong interest in how humans behave. 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