AmeriCorps Mayor’s Day of Recognition for National Service

On April 1, 2014 Mayors in Connecticut, along with other mayors around the United States came together to recognize the impact that National Service Programs have had on their communities. Every year more than 5 million diverse individuals come together to help meet the needs of local communities by participating in various service opportunities through the Coporation for National and Community Service's programs. These programs consist of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps which work to serve six crucial project areas within communities;  disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.

Local Mayor of Windham Ernie Eldridge kicked off the Mayor's Day gardening service project at Natchaug Elementary School with the reading of an official town proclamation. This event was sponsored by GROW Windham and united participants from Eastern Connecticut State University, The Windham Area Hour Exchange, Eastern Area Health Education Center, Windham Public Schools and several other organizations in town with service corps members. Participation was also open to the public free of charge. Mayors around Connecticut from Bridgeport to Windham participated in this day of recognition to thank those who have brightened their communities and to encourage others to join and do the same.

On a more national scale, this years Mayor's Day turned out to be a major success. Participation from more than 1,760 mayors in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico came together and represented 1/3 of all Americans. The success of the second annual Mayor's Day of Recognition for National Service more than doubled from the previous years Mayors volunteer list. You can view the full list of the 2014 Mayor's Day participants here. 

“We are thrilled by the extraordinary turnout of mayors from across the country for this bipartisan nationwide recognition of the impact of national service. It is a testament to the dedication and effectiveness of all those who serve in AmeriCorps and Senior Corps that mayors representing more than one-third of Americans are joining in this effort.  I commend Mayor Coleman, Mayor Smith, and other mayors across the country for participating in this recognition effort and for working with us to improve lives and strengthen communities through national service."

- Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service 

Alternative Spring Break: Generous Gardens Project

This past Spring Break proved to be an educational and influential adventure for the eight Eastern students who participated in the Alternative Spring Break: Generous Gardens Project in Greenville, South Carolina. The Generous Gardens Project is a nonprofit organization that grows, harvests, and delivers fresh food, as a healthy alternative to canned and boxed food, to people who are in need. They also educate individuals on how to create and maintain fresh produce gardens in a sustainable way. South Carolina is ranked ninth in the highest population of hungry people in the United States. Hunger is a very real and significant issue in our world today and the Generous Garden Project works to end the struggle of hunger in the healthiest way possible. "It is a known fact that if people get fresh fruits and veggies in their diet, they think more clearly, have more energy and live more fruitful lives. We are here to fight hunger one garden at a time."

The students drove 11 hours down to Trinity Church in Travelers Rest, South Carolina where they resided for the week. Everyday from 8am until about 3:30pm the volunteers worked hard planting seeds, making compostable flower pots, making garden beds and laying down leaves, feeding chickens and gather their eggs, sifting through compost, making labels for plants, and harvesting lettuce. Students learned the ins and outs of gardening and volunteering at a community based garden. The volunteers were able to incorporate the fresh produce from the gardens into their daily meals, which was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the trip for most of the volunteers. This spring break, however, was not all work and no play, one day was spent exploring the city of Greenville, hiking through Paris Mountain and dining at a local Hibachi. 

Student Leader Lily Egan commented on her experience at the Generous Gardens Project: "I would never have imagined doing anything else during this spring break. It was truly an honor to be able to work with such open-minded and hard working people. On thing I learned through working at the Generous Gardens Project was that in order to grow you must learn, and in order to learn you must be willing to grow, just like in college and just like a plant."

What's Trending Today

Today is Tuesday, December 3, 2013. You may have noticed the #GivingTuesday showing up a few times as you scroll through your Facebook newsfeed or tweets on Twitter.

I know that I have never heard of this phenomenon until checking my Facebook this morning and seeing it everywhere. So what is #GivingTuesday?

According to http://community.givingtuesday.org/Page/FAQ, this is the second annual #GivingTuesday event. It is a "movement to creat a national day of giving to kick of the giving season." The reason that it is called "Giving Tuesday" is because it was intended to be on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The mission of the #GivingTuesday campaign is to "create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activites that support non-profit organizations."

The website also lists some ideas for students of things they can do on #GivingTuesday, here are some of the ideas:

• Use social media to highlight a cause that interests you and encourage other students to take action to support something that they care about
• Organize a clothing or book drive or anothe on-campus giving activity on your campus
• engage profressors and start a discussion about philanthropy and volunteerism, and what students would like to see more of campus related to giving.

You can also check out what people are doing around the world for #GivingTuesday on Facebook and Twitter.

This is definitely one trend worth checking out!

It's National Homelessness Awareness Week!

There is a lot of things going on this week! Check them out!

-          Monday, November 18, Hunger Banquet, Niejadlik Hall, 7pm

-          Tuesday – Wednesday, November 19-20, Shack-a-Thon, Webb Lawn, 12pm on 11/19 - 6pm on 11/20

-          Thursday, November 21, “What is a Home?” Panel Discussion, SC Theatre, 3pm

-          Wednesday- Friday, November 21-23, Children’s glove/mitten drive, Webb Lawn/Lobby, Student Center, 10am-2pm

-          Monday-Friday, Voices of Homelessness Art Exhibit from No-Freeze, Student Center lobby/Webb hall

 

If you have any questions about any of the events, please contact the Center for Community Engagement at cce@easternct.edu!

 

Homelessness in CT

This is the second part of a two part series leading up to the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week that is taking place November 18-23. Last week was on hunger in Connecticut; this week will be featuring the issue of homelessness.

As the days get colder and darker, the issue of homelessness becomes an urgent matter.

According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness' article titled "Portrats of Homelessness in Connecticut," the state's emergency shelters served 11,700 people, 1,500 of them being children (Portraits, 1).

The factors that they list as contributing factors to homelessness include (Portraits, 1):

• Inadequate Income: "homeless families typically have extremely low incomes under 50% of the poverty level" (p. 1).
• High Costs of Housing: In 2010, CT had the 5th highest cost of living in the U.S. and about 80% of poor households in CT are weighed down by housing costs with 50% of their paycheck or more going towards rent.
• Interpersonal Violence: 40% of CT adults in families said that domestic violence contributed to their homelessness.
• Disability Health Conditions: this factor is on the rise as more and more adults are diagnosed with medical and psychological conditions
• Re-entry and Criminal Justice Involvement

In 2010, CT had 24 emergency shelters for homeless individuals, 10 for homeless families and 18 that serve a mixed population of both families and individuals (p. 3).

If you would like to read more about Homelessness in CT from this article, you can find it at: http://www.cfgnh.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Public/giveANDlearn-reports/HOMELESSNESS-portraits_full.pdf

Habitat for Humanity

Last week I had the opportunity to talk to Jessica Wagner, the Public Relations officer of the ECSU Habitat for Humanity club. Jessica is only a freshman at Eastern this year, but she believes so much in the mission of Habitat for Humanity, that she was made the PR officer earlier in the semester and has become really involved in the activities that the club participates in.

The mission statement of the ECSU Habitat for Humanity Club is as followed: “To increase awareness of sub-standard housing on campus and in the community. We also help to eradicate this issue with Windham and New London affiliate. Members can benefit from Gaining Community Service Hours, Learning Construction Skills, Traveling Around the Country, Enhancing Their Resume, Meeting New Friends, Getting More Involved In The University’s Community and Helping Families Get Out of Poverty Housing” (http://www.easternct.edu/studentactivities/clubs_orgs/habitat.htm).

Jessica told me a lot about the two big events that Habitat is putting on during Eastern’s Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (November 18-23).

The first event, an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet, is going to be on Monday, November 18. People Helping People (PHP) is also helping out with the event. If you have never been to a Hunger Banquet, then I would definitely encourage you to attend this event. The premise of the Hunger Banquet is better left a surprise, but what I can tell you is to go to Niejadlik Hall at 7pm and come hungry.

 The second event, the annual Shack-A-Thon, is going to be from November 19^th-20^th on Webb Lawn. At this event you can “see your fellow ECSU students live and sleep in boxes for 30 hours straight to help raise awareness for substandard housing.” Habitat club members raise $100 to sleep in boxes for a night on campus. The money goes to the Windham Habitat for Humanity affiliate.

Curious about how you can become a Habitat for Humanity Club Member? You can attend their meetings on Mondays at 7:30pm in Room 219 in the Student Center. If you want to find out more about their club you can e-mail them at habitatforhumanity@my.easternct.edu. You can also like them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter @ECSUHabitat.

I asked Jessica why she thought Eastern Students should get involved in Habitat. She said that is was a “good way to meet new people, you get to go to different places and it is a great way to help in the community.”

~Nicolle Hill, CCE Intern

~ * ~

Impact...

Ever wonder if you are actually making an impact? Or if what you're doing is really making a difference?

 

Dillon Melady, a CCE student leader, shares a story about the Recess Program that started last week.

 

Dillon and a group of student volunteers met 3rd grade students outside during their Recess time. Instead of being shy and avoiding these older, bigger college students, these 3rd graders let their curiousity get the best of them as they introduced themselves and got right to the point that they wanted to play. It ended up being a great time of playing kickball and jumping rope!

The second time that they went, all the kids remembered the volunteers and were so excited to see that they had come back! The 3rd graders were not the only ones happy to see the Eastern volunteers; the teachers also told Dillon "how grateful they were for the volunteers to be there as positive role models." One student told Dillon about his plans about going to Eastern one day.

 

Student volunteers...what you are doing DOES matter! It is making a difference! No matter how small and even if you do not see it right away, you are making an impact.



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Social Work Club and the Adopt a Family Project

Eastern Connecticut State University has some pretty amazing clubs who do some awesome things for the community. For example, the Social Work Club has been working on the Adopt a Family Project for the second year in a row. Chaneil Beckford, President of the Social Work Club, gives a description of what the
Adopt a Family Project is. 

Social Work Club Adopt a family Project

Last Year the former Social Work club President Judy-ann McDuffus thought it would be helpful to offer our services and time by giving back to the community by adopting a family. Last year was the first time our club got involved with Windham Area Inter Faith Ministries Adopt a family project, intended to help low income families experience and enjoy a Christmas.

We had over ten fundraisers and did over 121 hours of fundraising and we were able to make over $800 in which used to help five local families. We asked for donations and held several bakes sales to allocate the money, we were able to purchase thirty gifts for the five families including; toys, blankets, infant clothing, scarf and Wal-Mart gift cards for food.

This year we would like to continue to extend our assistance to other families and work towards helping them to also enjoy Christmas with our dedication and effort. It was truly a rewarding experience the first time we helped families that we felt pleased to help again this year.

We have already begun the bake sale fundraisers and we have been requesting other forms of donations, we intend to deliver the gift to the families on December 6^th 2013.
This year we hope to not only provide these families with gifts we would like to provide them with hope, that there still are people willing and motivated to make a difference in their lives.

-Chaneil Beckford

Social Work Club President

Club Members wrapping the gifts for delivery

To learn more about the Windham Area Inter Faith Ministries (WAIM) and their Adopt a Family Program, you can visit their website at: http://waimct.org/programs-draft/seasonal-programs/adopt-a-family.

Make sure you stop by the bake sale fundraisers that the Social Work club is holding this semester to donate or just to say hi and check out what their club is all about!

Hunger in Connecticut

The CCE is putting on many events this month to raise awareness about Hunger and Homelessness.

What does the issue of HUNGER look like in Connecticut?

The Connecticut Food Bank has done a lot of research alongside Feeding America about hunger and poverty in Connecticut. You can check out their website here: http://www.ctfoodbank.org/
Here are some interesting facts that I found on their website:

• 20.9% of children in Windham County live in a food insecure household.
• That's about 5,560 children
• 19.8% of children in Connecticut live in a food insecure household.
• That's about 157,550 children
• In Connecticut, 1 out of 7 households cannot always afford the food that they need.

What is food security?


According to the USDA, food security is defined as "access by all people at all times to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life."

It is difficult for people who live in a food insecure situation to afford foods that will provide the adequate nutrients needed for this active and healthy lifestyle. Instead, those in a food insecure situation are eating foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt content which does not contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

Check out this interactive map that has food insecurity statistics from all across the U.S.: http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-studies/map-the-meal-gap.aspx

What can you do to help?

• You can help by participating in the food drives happening every weekend this month and encouraging your friends to join you.
• Look out for the events that will be happening during the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, November 18-23 and participant in as many of the events as you can.
• Attend a People Helping People, Habitat for Humanity or other social service club meeting and see what events they are putting on this month.
• Get involved with GROW Windham.
• Check out the Connecticut Food Bank website mentioned above for more ideas and facts.
• Sign up for the Day of Giving which is November 27 (the day before Thanksgiving)

If you are interested in any of the events above and would like more information, just e-mail the Center for Community Engagement at cce@easternct.edu.

It's November!

NOVEMBER 1st! Already?!

The semester is flying by, and this is the last full month of the semester and with it comes many exciting things that are happening around the ECSU campus.

Also, don't forget to turn those clocks back this weekend (Sunday morning)! One extra hour of sleep!

Here is a list of just a few special events happening this month:

November 2-24: Weekend Food Drives
November 17-23: National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Stay tuned for events that are happening during this week!)
November 23: Walk for Warmth
November 27: Day of Giving
November 28: THANKSGIVING!

Keep an eye out for those boxes that will be appearing in all the dorms, administrative and classroom buildings starting next week. Bring any non-perishable foods you might have!

E-mail the CCE at cce@easternct.edu for more information about any of the events listed above!

Grow Windham

Kyrstin Marien, a student at Eastern Connecticut State University, has been working hard this semester with a community organization called Grow Windham. Grow Windham is "a collaboration of community partners dedicated to promoting healthy food in the Windham region through support of community gardens, food projects, and food- and garden-based youth programming and engagement" (www.growwindham.org).

For Kyrstin, her involvement in Grow Windham started with an assignment for her Geography of Food class where she has to do a total of 15 hours of community service throughout the semester. This led her to Max Goto, the Center for Community Engagement's AmeriCorps VISTA and event coordinator. Max was able to match Kyrstin's interests in the topics of health and nutrition, with a community organization and it has turned out to be a perfect fit!

Kyrstin believes that GROW Windham is a "fantastic program." She describes it as an organization that is serving Windham by working on the food issues that the town is facing. She says that they are "very active in the community and the community gradens", and what makes them such a great program is the fact that they "engage the community in whatever project they are working on". They are involved with the Food Coop and have programs at the elementary, middle and high school levels. "Everyone I have worked with is so passionate which makes me passionate about it!"

Through this organization, Kyrstin has helped out at the Lauter Park community garden on Fridays with other student volunteers from both Eastern and UCONN. She has also helped out with the Windham Farmer's Market with a group of students from Windham High School. For the Farmer's Market, she has to be there at 7am! Although this is early, Kyrstin says that the high school kids still have fun and they really enjoy what they are doing. All the food they sell at the market comes from the community gardens and everything that does not sell goes directly to the soup kitchen.

The high school program started off as a summer program and is now an after school type program. With the time Kyrstin has spent with these students, she has noticed huge, positive changes in them. Kyrstin likes the fact that GROW Windham is "targeting students and creating a postive healthy lifestyle at a young age." This program not only encourages kids to choose healthier food options, but it gives them the reasons as to why this is important.

If you are interested in reading more about GROW Windham and their programs, you can visit www.growwindham.org.

Make a Difference Day

What are you up to this weekend? Well, if you don't have any plans yet, you should know that on Saturday, October 26th, it is Make a Difference Day.

What is Make a Difference Day?

"The stories told around Make a Difference Day show that anyone - regardless of age, location or resources - can accomplish amazing things when they take on the problems they see in their community" (http://makeadifferenceday.com/about-make-difference-day)

As a stressed, always busy, stay-up-all-night-sleep-all-day college student, it can be really hard to find time to volunteer! However, it is ten times easier when volunteering becomes a time to work with friends, make new connections in the community and about finding those opportunities that provide the skills needed for your career.

That is why this weekend, on Make a Difference Day, the largest national community service day in the U.S., I am encouraging you to get a group of your friends together and do something positive for the community. If you cannot find a community project for this weekend, don't let that stop you or discourage you. Do some research with your friends on possible ideas of service projects you could do. Talk to your R.As, your club e-board members, the staff at the Center for Community Engagement. There is an unlimited number of resources you can use to get connected with the community.

Sometimes making a difference is as simple as inviting someone on your floor who has been feeling homesick out with you and your friends, taking a trip to the grocery store and buying groceries to donate to the soup kitchen, or even taking the time to check out some of the local businesses and supporting them by purchasing something.

Whatever it is that you decide to do, send your photos and stories to the CCE, we want to know about what you are doing to make a positive difference and share what you are doing with the Eastern Community!

CCE Happenings!

Events for the Week of October 21st

October 21: People Helping People Club Meeting 6pm in Student Center Room 219

October 22: CT Mobile Food Pantry at 12:30pm

October 23: Walk for Breast Cancer Event 9am-1pm on Webb Lawn. All donations will go towards the Avon Foundation for for Women. All are welcome to stop by for food, music, fun, prizes, and useful information.

If you are interested in finding out more information about these events, please e-mail the CCE at cce@easternct.edu. You can also visit the CCE at 333 Prospect Street.

 

 

 

October...the month of food!

October is all about food! The pumpkin obsession, the apple sensations, the warm soups, and hot drinks. As the days get colder, we find ourselves leaning more and more towards food as a source of comfort.
October is Eat Better, Eat Together Month and Fair Trade Month. It's the month of World Food Day and National Food Day. There is even a national Taco Day and a National Candy Corn Day and I am sure there are many others!
The day that is coming up next is National Food Day which is October 24, 2013. "Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affortable and sustainable food" (Foodday.org).
According to Foodday.org, this year's National Food Day aims to:

• Promote safer, healthier diets: Currently in America, the top sources of calories for children ages 2-18 are grain desserts such as cake and cookies, pizza, and sugary drinks.
• Support sustainable and organic farms: The USDA estimates that of all the food sales that occur in the U.S. Market for agricultural products, only 1.6 percent of these sales come from local farms.
• Reduce Hunger: More than 16 million children in America live in a household that struggles to put food on the table on a daily basis.
• Reform factory farms to protect the environment and farm animals: 70 percent of all polution that occurs in U.S. rivers and streams comes from Agricultural practices and especially larger scale operations.
• Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers: The average annual income for crop workers is between $10,000 and $12,499 for individuals and $15,000 and $17,499 for families.

How can you help?

• "Write or call your U.S. senators, U.S. representative, governor, state legislators, mayor, or city council and ask them to support increased funding for healthy food initiatives, including promotions of fruits and vegetables, campaigns against junk food, or getting rid of junk foods from all city or state property and using the government’s buying power to support local and/or organic farming" (foodday.org)
• Visit the FoodDay.org website to find out more information about holding a Food Day event.
• Join the environmental club, People Helping People or Food Justice Committee on campus
• Volunteer in local schools and help teach kids about healthy eating

To find out about any of the opportunities listed above contact the Center for Community Engagement at cce@easternct.edu.

4-H Mentoring Opportunity

Do you want to help mentor kids, get some hands on teaching experience or just want to help out in the community?

 

If so, check out this 4-H mentoring program!

Contact the UCONN 4-H office at 860-875-3331 or mentoring@tollandcounty4-hct.org if you are interested!

 

 

Experience is Important!

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. 

Involve me and I learn." ~Benjamin Franklin

I have found that the best way to make the most of my college years is through getting involved in volunteer opporunities, clubs and internships. Sure, going to class is important, that paper really should be written and that group project should be worked on before the last minute, but these things should not consume your entire time in college.

Although it can be tempting to spend all your time on these things, especially as the homework assignments pile up and there is a test in every class this week, sometimes it it best to look above that pile of work and see what else there is out there. In fact, taking part in extracurricular opportunities allows you to build on what you are learning in the classroom making it so the information becomes alive and tangible instead of just words on a page.

Throughout this blog, one can see the various different kinds of experiences that the Center for Community Engagement at Eastern offers. There are education volunteer opportunities for those who are majoring in education. There are tutoring positions for math, science, reading and many others. Working in community gardens is a great chance for environmental earth science majors to apply what they are learning in class to help improve the effectiveness of the garden.

Don't think, however, that you have have to choose only opporunities that are close to your major. You may find yourself discovering something you did not know you enjoyed or maybe you find that the experience was not the best. The important thing is that you are finding out what you enjoy, what you dislike, what you are terrible at and what you are really good at before you have to step out into the "real world."

Building relationships is another important aspect of getting involved in activities outside of school work. Some find that they find friendships that last a lifetime through shared volunteer, internship and club experiences. I met one of my closest friends through my involvement with People Helping People (PHP) freshman year. You just never know who you will meet and where that relationship will lead you.

One last piece of advice: do not be afraid to step out of the crowd and do something different than what everyone else is doing. Doing something outside of the box is what makes your experience unique from everyone else's and if anything, it will give you an interesting story to tell.

~Nicolle, CCE Intern

Join the CCE Movement!

 

 

Eastern Students are making a difference! If you have ever wondered exactly what kind of impact the CCE is making on Willimantic and surrounding communities, this blog post is for you!

 

It is estimated that Eastern students provide essential tutoring and mentoring services to local schools worth $147,000.

 

During the 2012-2013 academic year alone:

•  1,066 Eastern students did a total of 13,137 hours of service
• 609 students who worked with children enrolled in Windham Public Schools completed 5,199 hours of service
• 417 Eastern student who worked with local youth did 2,108 hours of service
• 211 students served as tutors or mentors in the local schools completing 2,603 volunteer hours

This was all done by EASTERN students.

 

We want to see that number of hours increase this academic year! If you want to be part of the movement, come visit the CCE at 333 Prospect Street or send an e-mail to cce@easternct.edu.

Goals Goals Goals!

 

We want to know: what are YOUR goals for this fall semester? What is it that you want to get out of your time serving the community either through a community program, special event or service club?

 

Goals are important to set for ourselves. They can help up look beyond community service as just a way to fulfill a class assignment, a club obligation or even just serving for the fun of it (not that these are bad things!). Instead, goals help us look at what we are hoping to accomplish and the skills we hope to gain.

 

Are you hoping to gain teaching skills, learn more about nutrition, learn how to bond with high school students, obtain better public speaking abilities? Their is an endless number of goal possibilities! Take a minute to really think about it.

 

Now that you have taken a moment to really think about your goals for this semester, you can start to make a plan. What community service events, clubs, or services are available to help you achieve those goals? If you already have an event or program that you are invovled in, how can your goals become a part of your time serving there? Is there a way that the CCE can better help you achieve those goals? If so, let us know! Comment below, visit our Facebook page (Eastern CT-Community Engagement) or e-mail us!

 

Sometimes we go out in the community with the intent of helping others, when what happens is the community ends up helping us figure out who we are and what we want to be.

Wanted: Eastern Volunteers

Wanted: Eastern Volunteers

 

 

We need your help with 2 community programs! Please contact the CCE at cce@easternct.edu ASAP if interested!

The Windham Middle School Mentor Program: you are paired with middle school students in order to develop a mentor/role model relationship. Eastern students will engage in recreational activities, academic support and conversations around wellness, education and personal self- image. Mentoring activities are from 2:30 to 3:45, but volunteers are welcome to sign up until 4:30 to assist with homework time.

 

Bridges to the Future/Puentes al Futuro: designed for English Language Learner (ELL) students from Windham Middle School and Windham High School. The program participants work with Eastern volunteers and instructors on homework tutoring and then participate in cultural and arts enrichment experiences including folkloric dance, drumming, and journal making about their culture. 

 

The program will be held on different days in different classrooms on Eastern Connecticut State University's campus or at the Windham Middle School or the Windham High School according to the schedule. Detailed information about the program will be provided once students commit to volunteer in any of the program days.

·         Middle School Level Schedule

o    TUESDAY meets at Windham Middle School (Art, Percussion Music and Science)

o    WEDNESDAY meets at Eastern (Hip/Hop Dance)

o    THURSDAY meets at Windham Middle School (TBD)

·         High School Level

o    TUESDAY meets at Eastern (Hip/Hop, Poetry, Cultural Time Line)

o    WEDNESDAY meets at Eastern (Hip/Hop Dance, I am Latino class)

o    THURSDAY meets at Eastern and Windham High School (Art, Life Skills)

Say What?

"The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others"

 

What's the difference between a community program and a special event?

A community program is a long term program that usually meets once a week throughout the semster. Volunteers have a greater opportunity to develop and utilize professional skills, make sustainable impact in our society, and create long-lasting relationships.

A special event are larger volunteer opportunities dealing with larger populations or community issues at one-time. These events require a higher presence of Eastern volunteers on the day of the event.

What type of community programs are available this semester? Is it too late to sign up?

It is not too late to sign up for a community program but you should contact the CCE at cce@easternct.edu as soon as possible if this is something that interests you!

Here are the community programs available:

Tutoring and Mentoring with: Natchaug, North Windham, Sweeney and Windham Center Elementary Schools, Windham Middle School, Windham High School, Natchaug Elementray School Recess Program, Sister to Sister, Brother to Brother, Puentes al Futuro/Bridges to the Future, Journey House, Junior Achievement, Project K.B.A. (Kids, Books and Athletics), Project Academic Advancement, Collegiate Health Service Corps

Elderly and Special Populations: St. Joseph's Living Center, Windham No Freeze Hospitatlity Center, Food Justice Committee/Eastern Community Education Garden

Be on the look out for the special events that are happening throughout the semester!

I also heard about this thing called an Alternative Break, what's that?

An Alternative Break trip provides Eastern students the opportunity to serve communities outside of our own while learning about other social groups and community systems.

If you are interested in leading or participating in an Alternative Break trip, contact the CCE!