 ITHACA, NY—More than 100 Ithaca College freshmen and 30 upper-class team leaders will report to campus Wednesday, Aug. 23 (4 days early) to take part in the college’s annual Community Plunge—a program that gives first-year students a chance to perform volunteer work at a variety of Ithaca-area agencies.
“The Community Plunge program began in 1997, with 30 first-year students participating at just one site,” says Deborah Mohlenhoff, coordinator of community service and leadership development for Ithaca College. “Since then, the program has become a signature event for the college. This year, students will volunteer about 1,700 hours of service at 19 local organizations. According to figures provided by Independent Sector, a national coalition of some 550 nonprofits, the worth of our students’ volunteer labor this year will total nearly $31,000.”
Community Plunge participants will divide into groups to perform volunteer service activities on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25 and 26. These activities will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
A sampling of Friday’s events includes:
Saturday’s events will include:
In addition, the students will be participating in various painting, gardening and cleaning projects for organizations such as Hospicare and Palliative Care of Tompkins County, Finger Lakes Land Trust, Longview, Cayuga Nature Center, Ithaca YMCA, Women’s Community Building, and Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca.
“These students are highly motivated, and all of them come with some experience in community service activities,” says Mohlenhoff. “They have gone through an application process to participate in the program, and are choosing to take part through their altruism, not as a mandatory requirement. Community Plunge has demonstrated that it has a significant impact on the participants’ transition to college as well as their future involvement in leadership and service opportunities.”
For more information and to schedule interviews and photo opportunities, contact Mohlenhoff at (607) 274-3222 (office); (607) 351-0047 (cell), or volunteer@ithaca.edu. Contact: Keith Davis Office: (607) 274-1440 news@ithaca.edu Reference: 143 |
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