November 7, 2017
Lauren Butler
Bright red T-shirts, warm smiles, soft cookies and big hugs.
These are all characteristics of the Ask a Moms, a local organization that visits UCCS twice a month.
Ask a Moms is hosted by the Pulpit Rock Church. Their motto, “Sometimes, you just need a mom and a cookie,” speaks to students, like graduate student Taylor Lindsey, on campus. Lindsey enjoys speaking with the moms when they come to UCCS.
“This is the highlight of my week,” she says.
The Ask a Moms is composed of 10 women who have children that are college students. Supported by the Christian Crusaders, or Cru, club on campus, the moms usually visit the college in groups of three, and set up their red-clothed table in front of the library in the University Center on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
“We’ve been able to connect kids to the Counseling Center and talked to them about health and nutrition. I remember students who wanted to talk about life and death,” said Tracey Anderson, one of the lead moms in the group.
“The point is to have deeper conversations [with students].”
The moms have come to UCCS for the last three years, according to Anderson, who says that the organization has been able to establish real connections with students since they started coming to campus.
“One of the moms prayed with a man who had had problems with his roommate. It’s nice for them to come back and give us an update,” Anderson added.
The moms offer cookies, Hershey’s Kisses and an assortment of other items for students who happen to pass by. The moms usually hand out their cookies and give hugs for two to three hours at a time.
Anderson said that the organization started during a book club when the moms discussed their empty nests and realized that they missed their kids.
Most of the moms attend Pulpit Rock church, where a few of them had originally met and formed this group. One of the moms had heard about a woman named Cathy Thompson who started an Ask a Moms organization in Florida more than a decade ago through the Crusaders.
“We were crying about being empty nesters and heard about a woman who started an organization in Florida called Ask a Moms,” Anderson said.
After learning more about the organization, the moms decided to start their own. Pulpit Rock Church provided T-shirts and funding for the group to begin their services.
The cookies that are handed out to students are bought in bulk from Costco and packaged individually by the moms, since they are not allowed to make the cookies themselves.
Students can visit the Ask a Moms at the Wellness Center on Nov. 14. For more information on the Ask a Moms, visit pulpitrock.com/the-ask-a-moms-in-action/.