Malone University launches first-ever Sustainability Festival

The festival will include local vendors (including student vendors), a food truck, educational activities, community partners, children’s activities, animals from the Malone Zoo collection and more.  

Launched in order to bring regional awareness to creation care, the Sustainability Fest is one way Malone demonstrates respectful stewardship of God’s creation in alignment with its motto, “Christ’s Kingdom First.” 

"On April 22, 1970, Malone celebrated the first ever observation of Earth Day in the United States where students across the country engaged in activities that opposed environmental degradation,” said Bryson Davis, assistant professor of sociology. “ To this day, we continue to be committed to environmental care and sustainability in our efforts to put Christ's Kingdom first, which includes how we care for all of creation. Sustainability Fest is a celebration of our natural environment and an invitation for the Malone, Canton, and Stark County communities to enhance our individual and collective efforts toward cultivating flourishing for people and the planet."

Malone’s Sustainability Fest will offer an opportunity for the entire community to celebrate and recognize the importance of our shared involvement in cultivating creation care so that environmental flourishing is possible for decades to come.  

“Before I enrolled at Malone, I felt like I was connected to nature just because of who I was as a person,” said Mattie Huber ʼ25. “Now as a student, I’m learning about the concept of creation care and have realized that the reason we are all connected to creation in deep ways is because it’s part of God’s intentional design. I enjoy the topic so much that my honors thesis is about creation care, and I am so excited for the opportunity to dig deeper into a concept that is so important. Being at Malone has shown me I am not alone in my deep love for creation and I’m excited to share and celebrate it with other like-minded Christians!”

What other Malone students have to say about creation care and how Malone is teaching them to steward God's creation:

"What I have learned is that I find joy in Creation Care. I see it as a form of worship to God and that it's expected of us as Christians. Stewardship is a biblical concept and something that we should all be trying to work towards. For me, I find it to be a beautiful way to connect with God and His creation." -- Ada Bailey '25

"At Malone, I have been learning that creation care is a tangible way to glorify God by caring for the earth that He has created for us to live in. Demonstrating care for the earth shows that we care for each other and the future of our planet." -- Laney Barger '25

"Before coming to Malone, I didn't know much about climate change or creation care. But through my social work classes and conversations with others, I began to understand that caring for creation is directly linked to caring for our neighbors. When we commit to caring for the world God designed, we are creating a better world for current and future generations to reside. That, to me, is well worth our efforts." -- Bryn Esh '24