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Volunteer Spotlight:Summer Associates

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AmeriCorpsCalendar of VSLC Upcoming Events

A Pirate’s Guide to

A publication of the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center

Here at East Carolina’s Volunteer and Service-Learning Center,we have had a wonderful year. From our Million Meals Eventin August, to letters written through ECU WRITES, to dressesdelivered for Fairytale Boutique, the local community has beentouched in many ways. Here are just a few snapshot statisticsfrom the year:

The Campus Kitchen at East Carolina University rescued 1,471pounds of food with the help of Todd Dining Hall and ARA-MARK, resulting in 4,207 meals served throughout the commu-nity. ECU READS/WRITES and ECU COUNTS more than 200 students put in nearly 2,000 hours of service in threeorganizations. Three domestic and one international spring breaktrips were taken by nearly 80 to serve communities around theglobe. The Adopt-A-Grandparent was launched for its inauguralyear. Students are reaching out to elderly citizens around thecommunity. Fairytale Boutique provided dresses to 30 young girlsto allow them an opportunity at attending prom. 167 Service-Learning classes provided 3,400 hours of service on and aroundEast Carolina’s campus.

Thank you for a wonderful year!

A Year of Service

ServiceSummer’s Here, What Are You Doing?

Oh the lazy days of summer. It is the prefect time to catch up on your tan, sneak in that book you have been wanting to read, catch up on your sleep... and volunteer!

Local agencies struggle during summer months to meet their volunteer needs. With many students gone for the summer, local community members on vacation, and a variety of other reasons, many struggle to make ends meet. You can change that!

Need some ideas for summer service? Take the free time between summer classes to volunteer with a local agency for an hour or two. This little bit of time can really make a difference! Not in summer school? Spend some time in the sun with the kids! Many agencies are looking for students to volunteer with their summer programs. Planning to leave Greenville for the rest of the summer? There areopportunities to volunteer in your local community also!

No matter where you are or what you are doing, you have the chance to give back and volunteer. If you need help finding an agency that fits your needs, come on by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center in the Old Cafeteria Complex, we will be happy to help.

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A Pirate’s Guide to Service Page 2

Each summer East Carolina University’s Volunteer and Service-Learning Center hosts two firstgeneration college students as summer associates. These students work to raise awareness among low income and prospective first generation students about their options in attending college. They work 30+ hours a week and recieve a small monthly stipend. When they complete their service, they are awarded a $1,000 educational award. This year’s associates, seniors Bage Shade and Morgan Watts feel they are getting much more than that in return; they are getting the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives.

Welcome to our 2011 Summer Associates!

This summer, Bage and Morgan will work together at the Little Willie Center, The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center and at the East Carolina Office of Admissions. At the Little Willie Center they will serve as lead teachers, working one on one with the children to provide positive college-aged role models. They will also be working at the Office of Admissions as special tour guides. They will give tours specifically to prospective first generation students.

Bage applied to become a summer associate because she wanted to show people that college is a real possibility for everyone. A social work major, she knows that a lot of students feel that college isn’t an option for them soley because of finances, and she wants to change that. “I am part of a low income family. I want to show others that it doesn’t matter where you come from. If you have the determination, you can do it.”

Working with the children at the Little Willie Center was exciting for bothBage and Morgan, however Morgan was particularly excited to return.Having worked with the Little Willie Center her freshman year as a part of a semester long class project, she was excited to work there again. Morgan isa biology major who intends to become a pediatrician. “I want to see how I can connect with the children because I want to work with them [in thefuture].”

Over the course of this summer, Bage and Morgan know that they will bechanging the lives of the children they reach out to, and generations after that. Their devoting one summer of their time will change their lives, and so many more. Bage and Morgan are in the process of putting the things they believe into practice. If you would like more information on how to get out and make a difference, come by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center on the first floor of the Old Cafeteria Complex.

“Act as if what you do makes a

difference. It does.”

- William James

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A Pirate’s Guide to Service Page 3The AmeriCorps Program

The National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 beganthe AmeriCorps program as we know it today. AmeriCorps, adivision of the Corporation for National and community service,is split into three major entities: AmeriCorps state and National,Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and National CivilianCommunity Corps (NCCC). In 1994, the first members of theAmeriCorps program totaled 20,000. Today 75,000 people servecommunities in need through AmeriCorps.

Whether it is protecting the environment or strengthening community programs, AmeriCorps members have made major impacts around the country. East Carolina University partners closely with AmeriCorps in multiple capacities. In conjunction with our partnership with the North Carolina Campus Compact, an AmeriCorps VISTA has been hosted on ECU’s campus for the past 6 years. Project Heart, a group of students who work one on one with elementary aged children also hosts ECU students. Additionally, the summer associates hosted on campus and the NC-ACTS (North Carolina Activating Citizenship Through Service) participants all serve through theAmeriCorps program. The program provides opportunities for people to put their ideals into action.

The program is founded on the principle that people recognize that things need to get done, and therealization that it is people who care that can make that difference. If you would like more information on AmeriCorps or one of its programs, go to www.americorps.gov.

Judy Baker, Institutional and Community Development ConsultantJessica Gagne Cloutier, Service-Learning CoordinatorMichael Loeffelman, Volunteer CoordinatorShawn Moore, Community Partner CoordinatorAlice Tyson, Office ManagerKatie Winn, AmeriCorps*Vista Member

Volunteer and Service-Learning CenterOld Cafeteria Complex

252-328-2735 (phone) 252-328-0139 (fax)www.ecu.edu/vslc vslc@ecu.edu

May/June 2011

Friday, June 24601- F Country Club Drive 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.Volunteers will be moving boxes and furniture. Please come prepared to move heavy items. Please contact Summer Woodard at252-355-3800.

Wednesday, June 29Umbrella MarketFive Point Plaza 4:45 p.m. - 8 p.m.Volunteers will be conducting surveys. Please contact Katelyn Crouseat 571-432-6385 or katelyn@uptowngreenville.com.

Wednesday, July 6Umbrella MarketFive Point Plaza 4:45 p.m. - 8 p.m.Volunteers will be conducting surveys. Please contact Katelyn Crouseat 571-432-6385 or katelyn@uptowngreenville.com.

For more volunteer opportunities, visit the Volunteer andService-Learning at www.ecu.edu/vslc.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Campus Kitchen at ECU Leadership Teammember Sarah Schach poses with a child

at the Little Willie Center after delivering ameal there.