Upcoming June Volunteer Opportunities

Looking for something new to do? Maybe you volunteered this past year and want to continue staying active. Below are some upcoming volunteer opportunities through the Center for Community Engagement!

• Eastern's Education Garden: We are in the middle of planting watermelon, potatoes, herbs, strawberries, and more! Much of the food will be donated to the Covenant Soup Kitchen when it is ready to be picked or harvested. The garden runs solely on Eastern student volunteer support with community members and local school kids helping out periodically. You can come and go as you please and form your own hours!

• Connecticut Food Bank's Mobile Truck: Every 4th Tuesday of the month, the Mobile Truck comes to 199 Valley Street with fresh produce and healthy food to distribute to those most in need. Volunteers help from 12:30-2:30pm with set-up and distributing the food to clients of the truck. This event is by far one of the most fun and rewarding events to be a part of!

If you're interested in getting involved in either, email Jacqui at decormierj@easternct.edu 

Sandy Still Matters: Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert

         On Wednesday March 13, 2013 students gathered in the Students Center at Eastern Connecticut State University to watch talented local performers and to raise money for Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief. All proceeds from this event went to an Alternative Spring Break trip to New Jersey, where Eastern students aided in disaster relief projects.

          Performances included Hanging Hills, a local band, of which include two members of the Center of Community Engagement Elliot Woolworth and Max Robinson, took the stage first and set the tone for the night. Next Fallin’ Flat graced the stage with their renditions of ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ and ‘Just a Kiss’ among many other popular songs. The Repertory Dance Troupe then performed a lyrical piece, followed by local band Balcony, who rocked the stage with a mixture of original and cover songs.

Overall this was a great event that supported local talent and raised money for a good cause. We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future.

         If you would like to donate to this cause contact the Center for Community Engagement at cce@easternc.edu

Persuasive Panel

On Thursday March 7^th, 2013 students filed into the Student Center Theater at Eastern Connecticut State University to listen to the experiences of Post Graduates who joined the Peace Corp, Food Corp, AmeriCorps, and Teach for America. The purpose of this event was to educate students on different full-time service opportunities they can join upon graduating from Eastern in which they will not only bring their skills to meaningful work but will build their resumes. Everyone had their own stories and experiences to share with the audience but one story in particular stood out to me and the majority of the audience. Brianna London served with the Peace Corp abroad. She decided to join the Peace Corp after she graduated college because she wanted to take a break before thinking about going to graduate school but wasn’t ready to enter a full-time office job. After her orientation and training period, Brianna was sent to a remote village in Burkina Faso, Africa where she spent the next two years as the only American in the area. She primarily worked with groups of subsistence farmers and craftspeople to develop new business opportunities. She quickly became a role model for women in the village as she worked with them on confidence building techniques and helped them learn a new trade, soap making.  She worked with them to design a quicker more efficient way to prepare food which saved the villagers time and money. Brianna served in every aspect they needed her; some days she was a nurse, a chef, a financial advisor, or sometimes just a friend. Over the two years she was there Brianna learned the native language and made a huge impact in the economy of the village. As much as the villagers learned from her, she learned as much from them. She had to embrace a culture entirely different than her own and the people of the village tried to help her make that transition as smoothly as possible. Brianna now hopes to return to the village and is studying new ways to help them develop their economy. After the Panel, Brianna was surrounded by students who wanted to know more about her story. The bravery it took to move to another country with no knowledge of the area or language and have that big of an impact is something we can all admire and hope to achieve one day. I, like many of the audience, came to learn how to further our careers, but what we took away from it is that we can all do something as brave as Brianna and have amazing experience as well.

Young Energetic Solutions (YES)

Help Us Launch Young Energetic Solutions (YES)

The Partnership for Strong Communities is starting a new Connecticut-wide initiative to help young adults play a larger role in shaping their communities: Young Energetic Solutions (YES). 

Through YES, young people will shape and promote solutions to foster the communities they and many others desire: an array of affordable rental and ownership housing opportunities; strategies to marry those affordable homes with mass transit; placemaking that will create interesting locales – with restaurants, clubs, shopping and workplaces; and proactive municipal planning to create parks, bike lanes and other amenities.

YES Kick-Off Meeting: 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012.  5:30-7:00 pm

The Lyceum.  227 Lawrence Street, Hartford, CT.

Directions here

INVITED:  People in their 20's and 30's who want to make Connecticut an even better place to live.

FREE.  Food and beverage will be served.

We want to hear from you how Young Energetic Solutions (YES) should work.  We have some ideas, but we need your input to make it concrete, and your help to make it happen.  Please come, and bring friends.  And spread the word – if you’re a young adult and want stronger Connecticut communities, we have a place for you in this effort.

PLEASE RSVP:

Shelby Mertes, Partnership for Strong Communities.

shelby@pschousing.org.  860-244-0066.

Learn more about Young Energetic Solutions (YES)
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/YoungEnergy
Partnership for Strong Communities: www.pschousing.org/YES

Nick and Pat's Ride for Hunger

Going the distance to make a difference!

Eastern Connecticut State University seniors, Nick Fitzner and Patrick Scully are using their Spring Break week to certainly go the distance.  The Rugby co-captains are riding their bikes from Washington DC to Willimantic to raise $25,000 for the Covenant Soup Kitchen, the Greater Hartford Food Share, and the Connecticut Food Bank.

The boys were inspired by Coach Ray Aramini, who rode from California to Willimantic, and Canada to Willimantic to raise money to fight hunger in Connecticut. Nick and Patrick have been recreationally riding their bikes for years and decided to give up driving their cars. While they had been riding everyday they decided to ride for a cause and raise some money. Being captains and active members of the ECSU Rugby team, they had volunteered at Covenant Soup Kitchen before and became inspired to raise money for the cause.

Nick and Patrick have been fiercely preparing for their journey. They are riding their bikes every day, mapping out their route, and figuring out logistics. Their planned route includes riding about one hundred miles every day during their weeklong expedition. They don’t plan on sightseeing too much; despite this being Nick’s first time going to DC. “We’re excited about seeing the things you don’t plan on seeing. Some of the coolest sightseeing is the stuff you don’t expect to see”.

The boys are also prepared for some struggle on the trip. They foresee weather as being their biggest hardship. “March is a tough month to predict how the weather will be. One day could be sunny and 70, the next it could be snowing”. Nick and Patrick also realize the physical pain will play into their routine. The boys explained that when riding a bike for long periods of time, your hands and feet are the first things to go numb. Despite all these obstacles there is nothing stopping them from achieving their goals!

Nick and Patrick have learned a lot just through their preparation stages. They have seen a large willingness from friends, family, and community members to give back and they are thrilled by it. Seeing a need for any help at all, they realized how important it is to give back, “even if its $500 that we raise, at least its $500 more than these organizations had before”. They also want to encourage fellow Rugby teammates and University students to continue to bridge the gap between the Willimantic community and Eastern.

As of now, Patrick and Nick are busily getting ready for their admirable expedition. The boys are raising money and taking donations.

For more information check out and donate to their website NPrideforhunger.org or their Facebook page Nick and Pat’s Ride for Hunger.

Nick Fitzner (21, Economics Major, Glastonbury)

&

Patrick Scully (21, History and Social Sciences Major, Farmington)

Under Awareness Panel & Collection!

Click images to enlarge:

Blood!

Did you know...

• One pint of blood can save up to three lives
• Every two seconds someone needs a blood transfusion
• 5 million patients in the US need blood every year
• Less than 38% of the population is eligible to give blood
• Platelets, critical for cancer patients, have a shelf life of only 5 days
• Adults have about 10 pints of blood in their body and 1 pint is given during a donation
• Only 7% of people in the US have he universal blood donor type, O negative
• Donors can give blood every 56 days

To learn more about blood donation, click the red cross logo above.

If you would like to donate blood, the Red Cross is coming to Eastern for a Blood Drive on October 10th and 11th!

You can schedule an appointment online here or sign up on campus. Check back for dates & locations on campus where you can schedule an appointment in the next few weeks.

CureSearch: Walk for Children’s Cancer in Hartford

Cancer. The word is taunting and generally not surrounded with good feelings. However, the vibe was upbeat and positive at the CureSearch walk for Children’s Cancer this past Saturday. The event took place on the deck of the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. Fall weather made its introduction at the event, leaving us with a cool wind on our backs and the sunshine on our faces. During the event, teams gathered and took at 30 minute walk along the Connecticut River. At the end of the event, the grand total raised was over $30,000. It was evident that everyone at this event was happily giving of themselves, including over a dozen volunteers from Eastern, a local DJ from Willimantic who donated his talents throughout the morning and hundreds of people who coordinated the event, donated money and donated their time to walk. Even children were eager to help. One little boy, who was volunteering, willingly told me the story of his 20-year old sister who had survived cancer, describing it to me as “the saddest day of his life” when he found out she had been diagnosed. Another boy told me that the event was “one of the best community service’s he had ever done.” The CureSearch walk helped raise thousands of dollars for children’s cancer research, but just as importantly, it brought hope to those who have been personally affected by the disease and allowed people of all ages to feel the positive impact that they can have on such an emotional topic.

Follow CureSearch on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/CureSearch

Follow CureSearch on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/curesearch

Or Go to the CureSearch Website: http://www.curesearch.org/