National Public Lands Day 9/27/2014

Eleven Eastern Students have volunteered for National Public Lands Day. National Public Lands Day is the largest single day volunteer effort across the nation. The Eastern Students worked with CFPA (Connecticut Forest and Park Association) and AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club).

The volunteers worked on a broken bridge in the Narragansett Trail. The Narragansett Trail is part of

the Blue Blaze Trail System that runs through Camp Yawgoog. The Blue Blaze Trail is maintained by the CFPA. The volunteers took out the fifteen in a half bridge, and carried eight foot pieces of lumber three quarters of a mile to the bridge site. The bridge site had to be cleared, and the wood had to be measured.

After the bridge was completed, Bob Andrews of CFPA, took the volunteers to a hike. Andrews showed the Eastern Students where they had previously built a lean-to four to five years ago. After the hike, the students went to Button Wood Farms for ice cream.

Poverty Awareness Marathon 9/19/2014

September was the month for poverty awareness. Dr. Charlie Chatterton, a professor of Health and Physical Education, dedicated to raising awareness of issues surrounding poverty by running marathons. He held the 6th annual Poverty Awareness Marathon at Eastern, for which he organizes a route that loops around the campus, which invites students, staff, and faculty to participate in. On the day of the event, signs with the latest statistics about poverty were posted along the route and around campus. Early on in the morning, Dr.Chatterton was joined by runners and supporters in a small opening ceremony during which all reflect on the importance of bringing awareness to this issue. Dr. Chatterton was accompanied by  runners as he runs the Marathon. Participants were encouraged to run or walk the entire 26.5 miles or join in or leave as their schedule allows. Runners were asked to register by donating a nonperishable food item which were collected at the starting point. All donations were then given to a local food pantry. 

Individuals participated by:

 

•           Donating nonperishable food. A food drive will be held, with a goal of 462 items, to support the local Covenant Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry. This number represents the 46.2 million people in the U.S. whose income falls below the poverty level.

 

•           Volunteering to read to children. Participants and campus community members will be invited to volunteer and read to children at the Child and Family Development Resource Center (CFDRC) on campus. This will be to represent the 16.1 million children experiencing poverty in the U.S.

 

•           Donating a children’s book. Children’s books will be collected, to be donated to local children’s programs.

 

•           Making a cash donation. All proceeds will go to the Covenant Soup Kitchen. 

 

"This was the 6th Annual Eastern Poverty Awareness Marathon, and number 57 as part of my Take Strides to Brake the Cycle of Poverty Marathon initiative. It took five hours and twenty-Eight minutes, but we had stops along the way to visit the Child Development Center to run with the kids and at exchange point every 1.2 miles." -Dr. Charlie Chatterton, ECSU professor of Health and Physical Education 

 667 miles were completed, 561 cans of food were donated, and $200 were raised.

 

"The Swim Team runs in the marathon every year. It is a good caused to raise awareness because no one is aware of the poverty line. Even students who go to Eastern are in poverty." -Abby Arisco, Senior of ECSU, and Swim Team Member

 

 

 

Student Activities & Community Service Fair 9/8/2014

On Monday, September 8th, The Center of Community Engagement was part of the Student Activities & Community Service Fair. The Fair, was to promote clubs across the campus, in order to gain new members. Four-hundred and three students signed up at the CCE table.  

"It was nice to see people joining CCE. and getting involved in the community."
 - Lily Egan

There was another table that was with the CCE. Program coordinator, Alyson Iannicelli, started a new program in the CCE called, Jumpstart. Jumpstart is an Americorps program serving low-income preschools working on language, and literacy development. Jumpstart had over ninety students signed up at the Student Activities Fair.

"With Jumpstart as a new program, I was excited to see all of the students interested in joining the community, but also impressed about how they are commited in finding a service program."
 - Alyson Iannicelli

Warrior Welcome Day of Service

On August 27, 2014, Student Leaders from the Center of Community Engagement, Student Orientation Counsel (SOC), and freshmen participated in the Warrior Welcome Day of Service. The goal for this program is to get new students involve in the community as early as possible to give appreciation and understanding of the relationship between the university and the town of Willimantic. During orientation, students filled out interest cards and many of them checked community service.

The first event of the day, was cleaning up Eastern Connecticut's Railroad Museum, led by student leader, Lily Egan. Two freshman and one SOC member attended the event. At first, the freshmen did not know what was going on. They helped clean up the Railroad Museum, and had a great time.

"Its not about how many showed up, it is about the dedication that two people showed up and the fact that they became friends in the process" -Lily Egan

The next event was the Covenant Soup Kitchen, lead by student leaders, Jalpa Patel, and Melanie Morales. Eight freshmen and a SOC members volunteered. "Some volunteered at soup kitchens before, and others wanted to get to know the community" Patel said. "The volunteers enjoyed it, and want to do it again at some point".

At the end of the afternoon, Student Leader, Valerie Lewis, lead WAIM (Windham Area Interfaith Ministry). Nine freshmen and one SOC volunteered. At WAIM, people can donate clothes, and the community can buy. WAIM is ran by volunteers and has four staff members. The freshmen enjoyed it, and it opened their eyes about different social classes of Windham. The coordinator, Evelyn Solla, told about the history of the town, and how it has gone down economically.

On the day of the event, 97 freshmen volunteered, and served a total of 137 hours. The event was successful, with the volunteers having fun, and would like to help out the Willimantic Community in the future.