By Abigail Passafiume
On Saturday, April 26, over 260 volunteers participated in service events across Plattsburgh in an attempt to help out the community and build better relations.
SUNY Plattsburgh’s annual Day of Caring, organized by Project Help, fosters better relations and service through volunteer opportunities that directly affect our town and the people in it.
Project Help is a board of students who work to find opportunities for our students to get involved with service projects. The office strives to meet the needs of the community while providing meaningful events in specific areas of interest.
Alison Herbert, a project help coordinator and sister of Theta Phi Alpha sorority did outreach to see where we volunteers are most needed in our community.
“The community members I interacted with when assisting in organizing the sites were so grateful for the offer and excited to be a part of this campaign. Although there were some who had to decline due to logistical issues or already having events for that day, they were happy that we thought of them when planning our sites,” Herbert said.
Students were able to sign up through Cardinal Link and opportunities were first come, first serve. Possible areas of volunteerism were environmental projects, such as cleaning up Camp Tapawingo, food and clothing drives, participating in nursing home activities, helping out with the animals at the SPCA, community assistance with the elderly, disables and local businesses with yard and spring cleaning and highway clean ups through the adopt a highway program.
The Project Help office is located in the Angell College Center room 203, in partnership with the fraternity and sorority life office. Although the two offices are related and most of the staff is a part of fraternity and sorority life on this campus, service opportunities are open to all students to join, especially the Day of Caring events.
Miyu Kameyama, a junior political science major and project help coordinator for two years assisted in the planning for Day of Caring.
“Students need to get involved with service projects provided by project help because it is meaningful and fun. There are so many opportunities for students outside of fraternity and sorority life to give back to the Plattsburgh community and Day of Caring is the perfect way to do so,” Kameyama said.
Students do community service constantly through project help, but day of caring is meant to foster relationships with our students and community members that directly need assistance. The day is also a time to reflect on the importance of being involved in the community.
“This single day event allows us to all come together for one mission; to use our talents and abilities to help those who need it. The different sites are scattered throughout the county, giving us the chance to work with nonprofits that we may not always have the chance to and improving our community relations while giving back,” Herbert said.
This year, Project Help offered 10 different sites with multiple different time slots for each site. With over 260 volunteers, they doubled their number of participants from last year. Many of the participants were from fraternity and sorority life organizations, which fostered growth between members of different organizations and people in the community.
Brooke Aussicker, president of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority, mandated all members to participate for at least two hours at a Day of Caring event, although many members went above and beyond the expectations.
“Alpha Epsilon Phi participates in Day of Caring in order to give back to the Plattsburgh Community and benefit those outside just the SUNY Plattsburgh Campus. Through Day of Caring, Alpha Epsilon Phi was able to volunteer across Plattsburgh, profiting many different locations and members of the community. As an organization, we push daily to fulfill these expectations and create the difference we’d like to see,” Aussicker wrote.
Members of Alpha Epsilon Phi were encouraged to go to different events than other members to meet new people within our school while volunteering. This helps relations between organizations members to grow, bettering the fraternity and sorority life community as a whole.
Aussicker volunteers through project help consistently and just won The Gordon Muir Fraternal Camaraderie Award at the Fraternity and Sorority life awards on Sunday April 27, which honored her for her volunteerism and love for helping out the greater Plattsburgh community.
As students a part of the Plattsburgh community, it is important that we get the opportunity to give back to the community that has given so much to the students and school. Volunteering is the easiest way to thank Plattsburgh and see real change.
“We, as college students, experience a level of privilege that many do not have, especially in Plattsburgh. A large number of Plattsburgh citizens live in poverty and if you have the opportunity to, you should always do your best to help others who need it. Day of Caring helps us give back to Plattsburgh, which we should take advantage of by showing up and being present as we volunteer,” Herbert said.
If you missed Day of Caring, you can still get involved in community service and activities through project help. Ongoing opportunities are listed in Cardinal Link and are available to all students. Don’t wait until next year to get involved, your volunteerism could make a huge impact in someone’s life.
