Bush honors Lawrence native’s service

UMKC dental school student recognized for volunteer activities

President Bush speaks with Ashley Knight, a Lawrence native, after giving her a Volunteer Service Award Thursday at New Century Air Center near Gardner. Knight is a dental student at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

President Bush greets military personnel before departing New Century Air Center near Gardner Thursday after he attended a private campaign fundraising event for Kansas State Sen. Nick Jordan in Bucyrus. While in Kansas, Bush presented a Volunteer Service Award to Ashley Knight, a Lawrence native.

As President Bush walked off Air Force One at New Century Air Center near Gardner, a 25-year-old Lawrence native waited in awe.

Ashley Knight, graduate of Lawrence High School and Kansas University, on Thursday was honored personally by the president with the Volunteer Service Award for her dedication to community service.

“I was so floored and honored to be there and have that opportunity,” said Knight, a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry. “It was amazing, and I was thrilled.”

Knight was accompanied by Michael McCunniff, dentist and interim chairman of the dental public health and behavioral science department, who nominated her for the honor.

“We were so proud of her,” he said. “What she is doing is representing a dental school organization of volunteerism.”

McCunniff is responsible for starting Students Take Action at UMKC, a community service outreach program for dental students. And in his classroom, McCunniff said, he stresses beneficence.

“We talk about these things in school, but then to watch the students pick it up and take off with these ideas about volunteerism, it’s amazing,” he said.

Knight was president of Students Take Action last academic year. McCunniff said she redesigned the Web site and, thanks to that change, White House staffers took notice of the school.

In 2002, Bush created USA Freedom Corps, an office of the White House, to strengthen and expand volunteer service. Through his travels across the country, the president has recognized 600 volunteers. On Thursday, Bush was on his way to a Republican fundraiser in Bucyrus.

McCunniff said Knight also stands apart because of a grant she wrote to receive funding for a new project called Tots-N-Teeth. Knight said it was important to her to start a program to offer screenings for children ages 1 to 3 and to educate parents about taking their children to the dentist early.

And Knight spearheaded Shear Madness, an annual fundraiser to send children with cancer to Camp Quality summer camp at no charge. Through the program, dental students, faculty and staff raised funds by accepting bids to cut their hair or shave their heads. This year, the program collected $11,000, and Knight donated 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love.

“I feel like if you have the time and the energy to devote to helping others in need, that is something that I want to do,” Knight said.

McCunniff, Knight and Knight’s sister Alyssa, 21, also got a tour of Air Force One – after Ashley Knight requested a peek from the president.

“I got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat,” she said.

Knight’s parents, Tom and Michele Knight, who live in Lawrence, were out of town for the event, but they communicated with their daughter by phone throughout the day.

“We’re thrilled to death about it,” said Tom Knight, of Knight Enterprises Inc. “It was quite a surprise, and she’s quite a gal.”