A Pirate’s Guide to
Service
A publication of the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center
CKECU Celebrates its One Year Anniversary! February marks the one year anniversary for the Campus Kitchen at East Carolina University (CKECU)! This program works with student volunteers to take excess foods from Todd dining hall, create full meals, and then serve those meals to members of the local community. CKECU currently partners with the Ronald McDonald House and the Little Willie Center. In celebration of their anniversary, CKECU is adding a third community partner: Operation Sunshine! Operation Sunshine is a local agency designed to benefit disadvantaged girls ages 5-13. This program, which runs after school hours, gives the girls an opportunity to learn positive social skills, self-esteem building tools, and stress management techniques, as well as receive academic tutoring. CKECU will begin delivery on February 21st. More than 59 million dollars worth of food is thrown away each year in the United States alone. It would only cost 18 million dollars to feed the world’s hungry (www.stopthehunger.org). Change begins with you. Be aware of the food you waste. Every little bit makes a difference.
2011 Service-Learning Conference On Wednesday, February 23rd, East Carolina will host the 8th Annual Conference on Service-Learning. Over the past years, a committee has come together in order to facilitate discussion regarding the burgeoning field of service-learning. The conference will feature Paul Rogart Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times and Impossible Will Take a Little While. Impossible Will Take a Little While was named the number three political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. Loeb will be the featured speaker at this conference, but the day will also feature workshops and panel discussions by faculty and staff members. Faculty will be given the opportunity to learn how to effectively utilize servicelearning within their classes. For more information on the conference, contact Jessica Gagne-Cloutier at gagnej@ecu.edu.
To volunteer with the Campus Kitchen at East Carolina University, contact Katie Winn at winnk@ecu.edu.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Nandita Roe
The Ronald McDonald House Spring Break Trips 2011
Calendar of VSLC Upcoming Events
Volunteer Spotlight East Carolina University
Meet Nandita Roe!
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February marks a month when we think about caring for one another. One East Carolina student thinks about others full-time. Nandita Roe says, “I think volunteer work is comprised of selfless actions, which reflect one’s appreciation for his or her community. Service exemplifies the understanding that all members of a community are interconnected, and that we must all work together for the collective betterment of our society.” Since middle school, Nandita has been an example of this kind of service.
Nandita is a senior at East Carolina University with a double major in biology and religious studies. She works at the Volutneer and Service-Learning Center as a special projects student coordinator. She and her counterpart, Cassie Stultz, come up with ideas for special events for the Center. Last semester they worked at the University Million Meals event and organized a benefit concert. Nandita has been volunteering since middle school when she worked with her local hospital. “I loved the feeling I had when I knew I could use my time to help someone else who really needed it,” Nandita says. Since then, she has done a variety of volunteer work, ranging from an ESL tutor for underprivileged women, an art gallery docent for at-risk children, a hospice caretaker for UHS Hospice, and a teaching assistant at a school in India. Nandita has also participated in an alternative spring break trip where she helped construct a children’s home. The future is bright for Nandita, and she plans to use it to continue helping others. She is currently applying for medical school. Nandita chose to practice medicine because she believes, “that it is an occupation that is constantly serving the community in one of its most essential ways: through health.” She wants to implement her idea that, “compassion is the key to making a true contribution to humanity. It is not enough to simply complete an action, but to really try inspiring others and making an imprint on their hearts.” If you would like more information on how to get out and make a differnce, come by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center on the first floor of the Old Caferteria Complex.
“A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.” --Peter Marshall
Community Partner Profile East Carolina University
The Ronald McDonald House
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On June 21, 1987, the Ronald McDonald House of eastern North Carolina opened its doors in Greenville. The Ronald McDonald House serves the community by offering a home away from home for families struggling with a young child with medical issues. Patient’s families come to the Ronald McDonald House to stay while their loved ones are receiving treatment from one of the facilities in Pitt County. Families must live more than 30 miles away and the patient receiving treatment must be under 21 years of age. Most houses have an age requirement of 18 years old; however, the Greenville house raised its age limit in order to cater to the families of ECU students.
Families are most often referred to the Ronald McDonald House from a hospital social worker, although local doctor’s offices will make referrals as well. The 21 bedroom house averages 500 admissions a year. Each room is fully equipped and offers a private living area and private bathroom. Televisions, internet, video games and a fully stocked kitchen are among the amenities offered in the common areas downstairs. Families are encouraged to stay together at the house whenever possible. The majority of families that stay at the house (40%) are from the neonatal intensive care unit. This is because premature babies from all over are airlifted to Pitt County. However, families can stay at the house even if the child’s condition is not life threatening. “Any time a child is sick, it is traumatic for the family,” says worker Cathy Ahlslager, “however, it does not have to be a life and death experience to stay at the house. Cathy is the volunteer coordinator. She started out, just like everyone else on staff, as a volunteer. “It’s one of those places you just get a passion for. You know you make a difference every day.”
The Ronald McDonald Houses are created with the intention of being community supported. Greenville has done just that for the past 24 years. ECU has also been supportive of the House. In June, ECU football players will be supporting a golf tournament to raise money for the organization. Alpha Delta Pi is organizing a run-a-thon in March as a fundraiser also. No one is ever turned away for not being able to pay the $10/night donation. “The community is what keeps us going,” Cathy says. To volunteer, or to find out how you can help, contact Cathy Ahlschlager at rmhcathy@suddenlinkmail.com.
Spring Break Trips 2011 Every year, students from East Carolina University have spent their spring breaks taking vacations around the world, enjoying the time off from classes and embracing the first taste of summer. Some students decide to do more than that; they use their time off to do more. They give back. This year, sixteen students will be spending their break in New Orleans, working to revitalize a school there. Fifteen will be in New York working with Junior Achievement New York, a tutoring program for at risk students, and with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Thirteen students will be headed to Roatan, Honduras to work on a variety of environmental projects in cooperation with the Roatan Marine Park. Additionally, a group of students will be going to Carteret County, North Carolina to work with the NC Coastal Federation on a variety of environmental projects. It’s not too late! You can use your break to help others! You can take the time to volunteer wherever you are going to be! If you are interested in participating in the Carteret County trip, contact Mike Loeffelman at loeffelmanm@ecu.edu.
Calendar of Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, February 23 Giggle Gang Jenkin Fine Arts Center 3:15 p.m.- 5:15 p.m. Volunteers will plan art projects, help participatnts to develop basic art skills and creativity, set up materials, work one on one with the students, clean up. You will be working with students with disabilities. Please contact Michelle at 973-248-7954 or cavalloM09@students. ecu.edu or Cynthia at 252-328-1293 at bickleygreenc@ecu.edu. Friday, February 25 Youth Expressions Art Project Greenville Mall 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Volunteers will assist with the hanging of about 500 drawings. Please contact Cynthia Bickley-Green at 252-328-1293 or 252-367-1337. Saturday, February 26 NC Regional Science Fair Various Locations ECU Campus 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Volunteers will set up the pre-fair, direct and sign in guests. Please contact Grant Gardener at gardnerg@ecu.edu. Saturday, February 26 Youth Expressions Art Project Greenville Mall 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Volunteers will assist with the hanging of about 500 drawings. Please contact Cynthia Bickley-Green at 252-328-1293 or 252-367-1337. Saturday, February 26 Playground Enhancement-Operation Sunshine 1328 Chestnut Street 8:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Volunteers will spread mulch to rejuvenate the Operation Sunshine playground. For more information, please contact Latoya Mosely at 252-758-5315 or perationsunshineinc.03@hotmail.com . Wednesday, March 2 Project “Homeless Connect” Greenville Civic Center, 303 Greenville Blvd. 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Volunteers will escort homeless clients through services booths, restock food items for canteen, assist with area set-up and breakdown. Volunteers will attend a 2 hour orientation session prior to the event. Please contact Jim Naves at 252-714-6482 or jnaves@suddenlink. net.
Over a hundred ECU Students participated in service all around Pitt County in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 17th.
Blood Donation Fact A regular blood donation is slightly less than a pint, which is only a tenth of your total blood supply.
Source: American Red Cross
For more volunteer opportunities, visit the Volunteer and Service-Learning at www.ecu.edu/vslc.
February 2011
Judy Baker, Institutional and Community Development Consultant Jessica Gagne Cloutier, Service-Learning Coordinator Michael Loeffelman, Volunteer Coordinator Volunteer and Service-Learning Center Shawn Moore, Community Partner Coordinator Old Cafeteria Complex 252-328-2735 (phone) 252-328-0139 (fax) Alice Tyson, Office Manager www.ecu.edu/vslc vslc@ecu.edu Katie Winn, AmeriCorps*Vista Member