Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break teams have been chosen and their team meetings are well under way! While the team meetings only include ice breakers for the time being (two truths and a lie, the human knot, etc.), it looks like each team is having a blast getting to know each other so far!
The groups have begun fundraising and have thus far been successful! They have participated in an UNO's night, a Chili's night, Holyoke Mall's Magical Night of Giving, Project Help Koni Move and  holiday gift card fundraiser! We are excited to see how much more we can raise in the spring semester!
For those who don't know, there are four Alternative Spring Break trips this year. Groups will be traveling to Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pulaski, Virginia to participate in acts of service and give back to those communities. Each group consists of eight students, a team leader (who is also a student) and a learning partner.
Stay tuned for more updates on the progress of this year's teams!

Alternative Fall Break Photos!

Here are some photos from all three Alternative Fall Break groups! Enjoy :)

Habitat for Humanity

The Children's Study Home

Food Security

Alternative Fall Break Recap!

We're back from Alternative Fall Break and feeling wonderful! All three groups met to reflect on each experience and we've found that each experience was more rewarding than originally anticipated.

Students got down and dirty at the Habitat for Humanity build in Chicopee, waking up at the crack of dawn (leaving the University at 7:45 each morning) to get dirt in places they didn't even know they had.
The group saw all aspects of the Habitat for Humanity program, including: the build, the paperwork and the application process. They learned that the Greater Springfield branch of Habitat for Humanity is only able to accommodate four builds each year. In comparison with the amount of applicants each year, four builds per year is very sparse.
While the group was bounced around to see all parts of the organization, they were beyond satisfied with the work they were able to do for the organization, along with the parts of the organization they were able to learn about and witness first-hand.

The Habitat group got down and dirty while another group of students traveled to the local Children's Study Home to help the organization and meet some awesome kids. On their first day, they worked in an office building, getting to know one another while painting, re-organizing and decorating for Halloween. After lunch, they met the children (all boys, ages 6-12) and were taught how to play a new basketball game: King of the Court. The group worked together to provide a fun-filled day of activities for the boys: painting leaves, kickball, relay races, basketball, football, and soccer.
The group also worked closely with the Sharp Home, which hosts boys ages 13-18.

The third and final group that participated in this year's Alternative Fall Break program dealt with issues of food security. The group worked closely with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, where they were asked to sort hundreds of apples to be distributed to locals. The group also worked with the Holy Cross Sandwich Ministry, making over 300 sandwiches and distributing them to the homeless on Sunday morning. This experience was eye-opening for the group, as they made comments about how many people came out to receive their sandwiches and how much these people relied on the food they were being given. The group made the realization that food security is a larger issue than originally thought.

The Alternative Fall Break program was a success! Don't miss out on next year's AFB options! This is definitely a program to be a part of!

Alternative Fall Break!

Alternative Fall Break is right around the corner and although this year’s participants have already been chosen, the Center for Civic Engagement would like to take some time to share with the rest of the campus just how important the Alternative Breaks Programs are!

Last year was the first year of the Alternative Fall Break program. Eleven students joined together for four days of working with one of our community partners, The Children’s Study Home, which is an organization dedicated to caring for and improving the lives of at-risk children.

“I remember the first day of Fall Break last year perfectly! One of the little boys at The Cottage took me to the side and actually taught me how to throw a football,” Senior Kat Abrego recalls. “It wasn’t just by taking the ball and throwing it, he put the ball in my hands and showed me the right way.”

Participating in Fall Break is an experience that is not only rewarding for the members of the community, but for the participants as well.

“As Western New England students, this is our home. We should get involved and help out the community. Alternative Fall Break is only a few days and you can make such a huge impact on the lives of the people you help. It’s also a great opportunity to meet other students on campus,” Senior Shawnna Hall-Enoch says.

This year, the Alternative Fall Break Program has decided to expand and offer three different service opportunities, ultimately allowing for more students to be involved in the program.

The three different opportunities include: The Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, The Children’s Study Home, and issues of Food Security here in Springfield. Those participating in the Food Security portion of the trip will be working with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Gardening the Community and New Lands Farm.

“We decided to do more than just one ‘trip’ this year because we wanted more students to be involved. And, we have all of these community partners who are always looking to build partnerships with students to meet the needs of Springfield residents,” says Assistant Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, Koni Denham.

Students have responded in a positive manner to the multiple trips being offered, as there were an outstanding thirty-two applicants for this year’s Alternative Fall Break Program.

“Having the option to choose which trip you want to be a part of makes for happier students, because they can choose an organization they are really passionate about – which is always a good thing,” says Hall-Enoch.

If you missed the opportunity to be a part of the Alternative Fall Break Program, don’t worry! The Center for Civic Engagement offers a multitude of opportunities to tutor within the Springfield community, and sometimes the Springfield community even comes to campus to be tutored! The Center also offers the Alternative Spring Break Program - applications are due Friday, October 25, 2013.

            For more information about tutoring or any service opportunities on or off campus, don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter (@WNECCE), or search us on Facebook (WNE Center for Civic Engagement). You can also drop by our office on the second floor of the St. Germain Campus Center or contact Koni Denham (koni.denham@wne.edu) at any time.

The Center for Civic Engagement Moves to Social Media

Hello! Welcome to our first blog post! We are excited to be on the web and to be able to reach out to all of you students in an easy way.
I guess we should start by asking: do you know what the Center for Civic Engagement does on campus? If you do, hooray! You're one step ahead of the others. If you don't, please keep reading this post!
The Center for Civic Engagement is dedicated to building relationships between the students of our university and the rest of the Springfield community. Plain and simple: we work with community members to promote change and we're excited about it! And you should be, too!
We have created a number of service opportunities and if we don't have what you're looking for, we will work with you to make that opportunity possible. Some of the service opportunities currently available are:

Alternative Fall Break: This year we are doing three separate Alternative Fall Break "trips," all located in Springfield. Fall Break takes place Columbus Day Weekend (Oct. 12-15). We will be working with Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, The Children's Study Home, and organizations surrounding issues of Food Security. Drop by our office for an application!

Alternative Spring Break:  Taking place over Spring Break in March, a series of different trips to perform service all over the country engage students and create lasting bonds and memories. This year, we have four different trips: Youth Villages (Memphis, TN), Urban Tree Connection (Philadelphia, PA), Beans and Rice (Pulaski, VA) and a Civil Rights Tour (Atlanta, GA, Birmingham, AL and Memphis and Nashville, TN.). Applications are due Friday, October 25th!

5A Tutoring/Mentoring:  This program takes place every Monday and Wednesday in Emerson 102A from 6 pm - 7:30 pm! Children from local sports teams come to receive help with their homework, play games and have a personal mentor.

Tutoring at the SHARP Boy's Home: Every Thursday from 4-6 pm we provide transportation for a small group of students to tutor at-risk boys at a local school. After tutoring, we all play basketball. This program runs the entire year and we're looking for a few more people to join our group!

Tutoring at Zanetti Montessori School: This tutoring opportunity is available every day, Monday-Friday, at the Zanetti After School Program. Hours are 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm. You get to choose what days you work! Build your own schedule!

Civic Engagement 101 Workshops: These workshops take place on specific weekends, both Saturday and Sunday from 9am-5pm (roughly). One day consists of learning about service and taking a tour of Springfield, while the second day consists of doing a couple service activities within Springfield. The next workshops will be on November 9th & 10th and November 16th and 17th. Click the links to sign up!!

All of our service opportunities can be used for the very much procrastinated LBC requirement! Sign up with your friends and get involved in the community! Make your LBC easy and fun! Some of these can also be used for Work Study!! It pays to be involved!! And if this doesn't meet your fancy, check out our webpage for more info!