East Carolina University.
A P i rat e ’s Guide to
Service
Tomorrow starts here.
A publication of the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center
Fighting Hunger Pirate Style More than 545,000 North Carolinians struggle with hunger each year. Our friends and neighbors are having to choose between paying utilities and paying for food. But we can help with a local response to food insecurity in the east—the Campus Kitchen at East Carolina University (CKECU). After nearly two years of planning, CKECU opened on February 24 in Todd Dining Hall. Using surplus food from campus dining halls and donated nonperishable food items, CKECU packages balanced meals and deliver them to Greenville individuals in need. We need the help of the Pirate Nation to make CKECU an ongoing success. In the coming months, CKECU will recruit volunteers to prepare and deliver meals. We’ll also need student leaders to plan meals and run kitchen shifts. Classes and student organizations can help by hosting canned food drives to stock the CKECU pantry. Alumni can donate grocery store gift cards to support the purchase of supplemental produce and proteins. If we work together, the Pirate Nation can prevent children from going to bed hungry, or senior citizens having to choose between purchasing life-saving medication or groceries. CKECU is pirate powered hunger relief. Want to be part of the movement? Contact Kim Caudle at caudlek@ecu. edu or 252-328-2735.
A Green Challenge The Campus Kitchen at East Carolina University doesn’t just provide nutritious meals, it provides green meals; we share kitchen resources with Aramark and deliver group meals rather than packaging them in individual clamshells. We use surplus food which limits food waste, and soon, we’ll have the option to deliver food by bike, not with cars. ECU is currently participating in Recyclemania, a national recycling competition among colleges and universities. Last month, pirates recycled more than 91,000 pounds of paper, scrap metal, and co-mingled plastic! We’re recycling our fryer oil, eliminating styrofoam cups, using less water, cutting down on fuel emissions, and practicing environmentally friendly building. But there’s more that we can do. So this month, the VSLC is issuing a friendly challenge—do your part to be a little greener! Make sure to toss that empty soda bottle in a recycling bin, not the trash. If you’re headed to grab a bite to eat, pick a restaurant within walking distance of campus or your home. Write on the back side of your paper, cut down your shower time by a minute, or carpool to your volunteer site. Give it a try; pirates look good in green too!
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Volunteer Spotlight Elise Mauren
The Victory Junction Gang Camp The Spring Service Fair
Calendar of VSLC Upcoming Events
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East Carolina University
Volunteer Spotlight
Spotlight on Elise Mauren
Elise Mauren, right, helps students in CDFR 2280 with mid-semester artistic reflection.
When did you “become” a volunteer and why? At ECU, I became a volunteer during my sophomore year. I had done some service projects with my sorority, but it wasn’t until my service-learning class, CDFR 2280, that I really got involved. Once you are exposed to the vast needs of the community, it is hard to go back to not volunteering. Did anyone inspire you to become a volunteer—is anyone your volunteer “role model?” My mom is my volunteer “role model.” It is kind of ironic, my parents met volunteering at a crisis hotline when they were teenagers, and now I’m volunteering at REAL Crisis doing the same thing. My mom didn’t work for the majority of my childhood, so to keep her and the kids busy we would do service projects, whether through the PTA, church, or Girl Scouts.
What types of volunteer work are you currently engaged in? Currently, I am a volunteer crisis counselor at the REAL Crisis Center, answering phone calls for people in crisis.
There are several lines, but we are trained to counsel most every issue including suicide, rape, drug abuse, domestic violence, and mental health. It is hard work, but the training course really prepares you. I’m also a Service Learning Associate in Dr. Sharon Ballard’s CDFR 2280 class. The position allows me to facilitate [collaboration between] students and community organizations as well as connect theory with real life practice. I also enjoy various service events put on by the VSLC. Most recently I was at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park on MLK Day hanging out with flamingoes! Can you tell readers a little more about your experience with the REAL Crisis Center? I got involved with REAL through service learning—it was a choice that I have not regretted! I have grown as a person, a counselor, and a professional. There are in-services monthly, and various training programs. My next step is to be trained as a Victim Companion, being there in a victim’s real time of need whether it be a rape case or domestic violence dispute. With each call, I am helping someone new. Charles Fillmore said, “We shall serve for the joy of serving, prosperity shall flow to us and through us in unending streams of plenty.” How have you prospered from service? Volunteering led me in the direction of graduate study and my future career goals. I have met the most amazing, caring, and intelligent people at ECU, and have been able to network already. Not only does volunteering benefit [me in] that aspect, but [I] feel like a better, more socially conscious person. You’ve been asked to recruit volunteers for an upcoming project, what do you say to potential volunteers to encourage them to get involved? To potential volunteers, I would stress the universal benefits! Not only can you provide needed services to the community, but you reap personal benefits as well. Volunteering makes you feel good about yourself, you feel like you accomplished something meaningful today, you gain leadership and communication experience, you’re being unselfish, meet fantastic people, and become a participatory citizen, which is really what everyone should be. To learn more about the REAL Crisis Center, Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park, or the Service-Learning Associate Program, stop by the Volunteer and ServiceLearning Center in the Old Cafeteria Complex.
“It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” ~Tom Brokaw
New Volunteer Projects East Carolina University
The Victory Junction Gang Camp
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Victory Junction is a NASCAR-themed, year-round camping facility that serves children, ages 6 to 16, with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. During the summer, Victory Junction offers diseasespecific sessions with up to 128 children per session. During the fall, winter and spring, family weekends are offered to 32 families per weekend The camp enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe, medically sound environment.
Volunteers serve as the “pit crew” of Victory Junction, and may serve in one of the following capacities: • Family Ambassadors • Cabin Counselors • Program Chiefs (Arts & Crafts, Boating, etc.) • Stable Crew • Unit Nurses, Camp Physicians, and other Health Care Roles Victory Junction is accepting applications now for spring and summer session volunteers. Applications are available online at www.victoryjunction.org. Experience is helpful—compassion, energy, and responsibility are required! If you’re a fan of racing, love children, or want to build your leadership skills, a volunteer position at Victory Junction might be for you! Interested volunteers can contact Claire Rutan at crutan@victoryjunction.org or 336-498-9055.
Spring Service Fair A Success Last month, the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center hosted the Spring Service Fair in Mendenhall Student Center. More than 20 different nonprofit organizations set up tables showcasing special events and ongoing opportunities, hoping to meet the right volunteer or service-learning student to fill their needs. From A Small Miracle, Inc, to Eastern North Carolina Stop Human Trafficking Now, to United Hospice-Farmville, nonprofits represented opportunities to fit every interest and ability.
At left: the table display for Eastern NC Stop Human Trafficking Now
One table, the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina (HSEC), was particularly popular with students visiting the fair. Katie Benson, volunteer coordinator, brought along Pepper, a 9-month old chow mix. With her spotted black tongue, curly tail, and lovable personality, Pepper was even a hit with the Mendenhall staff, who suggested she become the honorary Mendenhall Mascot! Most community organizations recruited 10-20 potential volunteers and servicelearners during the fair. A representative from the hospital stated, “This is always a good opportunity to share the volunteer needs of the hospital with college students as well as network with other agency representatives.” And it’s not just the nonprofits that enjoy the fair—students like that they can talk face-to-face with organizations that interest them, ask questions, and sign up on the spot! Did you miss the service fair? Don’t worry! You can stop by the Volunteer and ServiceLearning Center Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. to learn about service opportunities with more than 100 local and national nonprofit organizations. Or, visit our calendar of events at www.ecu.edu/vslc. Whether you have a hour a week or an hour a year, we have an opportunity that is right for you!
From left to right: Kim Scott, Pepper, Will Thomas and James Harrison II.
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Calendar of Upcoming Events Blood Drives Wednesday, February 24 from noon until 6:00 p.m. Fletcher Residence Hall Thursday, February 25, time will be announced at www.ecu.edu/vslc Jarvis Residence Hall Tuesday, March 30, 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Wright Place Parents Night Out Saturday, February 13 from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Student Recreation Center Contact David Gaskins at 252-328-6787 or gakinsd@ecu.edu. Volunteers will set up and break down activities and assist with registration. Girl Scouts Tenth Annual Favorite Guy Dance Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Contact Carolyn Reed at 252-717-6687 or johncaro2@embarqmail.com. Volunteers will greet guests, run games, help in the kitchen, assist photographers, and more!
Volunteers at the 2010 MLK Day of Service
JDRF Krispy Kreme Run Saturday, February 27 from 7:00 a.m. until noon Contact Annette Peery at 252-717-8078 or peerya@ecu.edu Volunteers will monitor the run route, register runners, assist with timing, and distribute t-shirts. Family Fun Day Sunday, February 28 from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Contact David Gaskins at 252-328-6387 or gaskinsd@ecu.edu Volunteers will assist with set-up and break-down, lead games and help with registration. Pirate Playtime Most Friday afternoons from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Contact Katy Ross at pirateplaytime@gmail.com Pirate playtime is a roving after-school recreation program led by ECU students.
Blood Donation Fact If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives! Source: American Red Cross
Volunteer and Service-Learning Center Old Cafeteria Complex 252-328-2735 (phone) 252-328-0139 (fax) www.ecu.edu/vslc vslc@ecu.edu Shawn Moore, Community Partner Coordinator Jessica Gagne Cloutier, Service-Learning Coordinator Michael Loeffelman, Volunteer Coordinator Judy Baker, Institutional and Community Development Consultant Kimberly Caudle, AmeriCorps*Vista Members
February Edition 2010