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University of Scranton Hosts Volunteer Fair
More than 900 students and nearly 60 nonprofit organizations participated in the Community Outreach Office’s 20th annual Volunteer Fair that took place on Sept. 14 in the DeNaple Center’s McIlhenny Ballroom at The University of Scranton.
Several national organizations at the fair included Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Ronald McDonald House, United Neighborhood Centers and Habitat for Humanity, which gets about 250 University of Scranton student volunteers each year. Local organizations at the fair included ARC of NEPA, Pocono Equestrian Center and the Jewish Community Center, just to name a few.
One of the more unique service opportunities for students included the chance to volunteer at the Electric City Trolley Museum’s first haunted trolley ride and haunted house. This special event, hosted in conjunction with the Lackawanna Valley Heritage Society, allows student volunteers to dress up in costume and “haunt” the ride and house during Halloween weekend.
Representatives at the fair talked about the importance of student involvement and current students praised their collegiate volunteer experiences.
Michael Davis, site-based coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters, explained that each year about 75 Scranton students get involved with Big Brothers Big Sister. Of those, about 30 students work specifically with the children in-need and work with their parents one-on-one.
Ben Courtney, a senior secondary education and Spanish major from Norristown, explained how traveling to El Salvador, as part of the International Service Program, was an eye-opening experience.
“Going abroad to do service opened my eyes to different cultures and ways of life,” said Courtney. “Not only did we help the impoverished children in need in a third-world country, but the students on my trip came back a different person after experiencing the complete immersion that the International Service Programs offer.”
Each year more than 2,800 University of Scranton students perform well over 170,000 service hours, much of it through local organizations. The Community Outreach Office informs students and student clubs interested in service projects of the volunteer opportunities that exist at local organizations.
The University of Scranton has been nationally recognized for its service efforts. Scranton ranked 14th in the nation among the top among 50 service-oriented colleges in the master’s-level category listed in the September/October issue of Washington Monthly. Scranton is among just 110 colleges in the nation earning the highly selective Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Community Engagement Classification for both Curricular Engagement (the connection of teaching, learning and scholarship to community) and Outreach and Partnership (the extent of focus of institutional resources on community collaboration).
