Hands Out For Halloween! WC Students To Collect Canned Goods For The Needy, October 31

Chestertown, MD, October 23, 2003 — Washington College's Hands Out Service Organization will be collecting canned goods for the needy on Halloween night, Friday, October 31, between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Students from Washington College will join trick-or-treaters in Chestertown, but don't be surprised if they don't want your candy! Instead, they will be asking for your donation of canned or other imperishable food items to help restock local food pantries serving the underprivileged in Kent County.
Hands Out encourages Washington College students and faculty to lend a helping hand locally and regionally to those in need. Projects include food and clothing drives and other local community projects addressing specific needs. For more information or if you would like to join in this volunteer effort, contact Kerry Kauffman at 410-810-1872, or via e-mail: kkauffman2@washcoll.edu.

Washington Collge Gospel Choir To Sing At Community Thanksgiving Service November 24

Chestertown, MD, November 19, 2002 — The Washington College Gospel Choir, under the direction of Reverend Eric Scott, will once again join members of the Chester Valley Ministers Association for their community Thanksgiving Service. This event will be held at Christ United Methodist Church on 405 West High Street, Chestertown, Maryland on Sunday, November 24, 2002, at 4:00 pm.
For the past several Thanksgiving holidays, the Gospel Choir has participated in this community service. This event joins together many of the local churches and organizations to celebrate and give thanks during the holiday season.
For more information about the Washington College Gospel Choir, contact Sara Ann Smith at 410-778-7290, or e-mail ssmith5@washcoll.edu.

Thanksgiving Food Drive: Washington College Fraternities, Sororities And Bands Organize For The Community

Chestertown, MD, November 7, 2002 — Washington College's Inter-fraternity and Pan-Hellenic Councils joined by alumni band Astralyte are cosponsoring a Thanksgiving Food Drive to benefit needy families in the local community. Students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to drop off nonperishable and canned food items from now until Friday, November 15 when Astralyte will perform a benefit show with campus band Eveline at Chestertown's Prince Theatre. Bring a donation of food and receive $3 off of the $10 ticket price. The concert starts at 8 p.m. and tickets will be available at the Prince Theatre box office.
Collection boxes will be set up around campus in dormitories and at the Cove, as well as around Chestertown at Acme and Superfresh, Play It Again Sam's on Cross Street, and Shake Down Street Music on High Street. Donations will be distributed by the Kent Family Center to needy families and individuals in the community.
“We are requesting that people donate traditional, nonperishable Thanksgiving foods such as various canned vegetables and mashed potato mixes,” said Amelia Ziegler, office manager for the Kent Family Center. The Center also will accept donations of frozen turkeys, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m to 5 p.m, at 116B Lynchburg St. in Chestertown. Call 410-778-7911 in advance if you plan to drop off a turkey. The Kent Family Center will be taking donations of nonperishable food items and frozen turkeys until Saturday, November 23.
To learn more about the Kent Family Center, visit it on the web at www.kentfamilycenter.org.
Visit Astralyte on the web at www.astralyte.com.

Into The Streets: 390 New Washington College Students To Participate In Day Of Service On Mid-Shore

Chestertown, MD, August 19, 2002 — On Saturday, August 24, 2002, Washington College will sponsor its fourth annual "Into the Streets" program. During this day of service, 390 students new to the Washington College community will perform volunteer work throughout the Mid-Shore. The day will begin with an on-campus gathering of all of the students before they head off in 20 groups of 15-30 student volunteers, each led by a peer mentor.

"'Into the Streets' is a great way in which to introduce our new students to the Eastern Shore community, and we hope that it will also help to give them a sense of responsibility for the needs of communities in which they will eventually reside," said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development and Overseer of Service Learning at Washington College.

Students will participate in a variety of human services, community and environmental projects at locations on the Mid-Shore. Sites include but are not limited to Adkins Arboretum at Tuckahoe State Park, Camp Fairlee Manor, Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Kent Association for Riding Therapy, Kent Center, Millington Wildlife Center, Community Food Pantry, and Chesapeake Fields Institute.

The "Into the Streets" Day of Service was started by 2002 graduate Washington College Gia Grier as a student after she attended the 1999 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) Conference. With new ideas inspired by COOL, she worked with Sawyer to develop and increase service learning programs on and off campus for Washington College students. "Into the Streets" was created specifically to provide incoming freshman and transfer students a day to experience the variety of social and service organizations on the Shore that welcome student volunteers.

"Into the Streets provides our incoming students their first foray into their new community," said Sawyer. "It is a way to find kindred spirits and friends and encourage student initiative and community involvement. Through formal programs such as this, we have seen student participation in service learning increase on our campus over the past several years."

For more information on "Into the Streets," or if you represent a community organization seeking student volunteers, contact Vicky Sawyer at 410-778-7892.

Boylan To Speak On The Origin Of Women's Activism

Chestertown, MD, April 1, 2002 — The C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College presents "Women in Groups: The Early History of American Women's Volunteer Associations," a lecture by Anne Boylan, Associate Professor of History at the University of Delaware, on Friday, April 5, 2002 at 4 p.m. in the Custom House, 101 S. Water Street, Chestertown.

The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

In her talk, Anne Boylan will take listeners back to the very beginnings of women's voluntary activism, to the decades immediately following the American Revolution when permanent women's organizations first emerged in Northern cities. The talk will describe a broad range of associations founded by New York and Boston women of varied racial and religious backgrounds, and it will offer a glimpse into the lives of organizational leaders. Based on her forthcoming book, "The Origins of Women's Activism: New York and Boston, 1797-1840" (University of North Carolina Press, 2002), this presentation draws from extensive research into the histories of about seventy-five women's organizations and the lives of about 1100 women leaders.

The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College opened in Fall 2001 to encourage the broad study of American history and culture and the ways we give daily new meaning to what George Washington called "the great experiment." In keeping with the special history and character of Washington College, the Center focuses on the nation's founding moment, ideals and experiences by highlighting contemporary scholarship and research in these areas. For more information, visit starrcenter.washcoll.eduor call 410-810-7156.

Washington College Students Spend Spring Break Building Houses With Habitat For Humanity

Chestertown, MD, March 11, 2002 — Twenty students from Washington College are spending spring break in Columbus, GA, building houses through Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge program. The groups will join 350 other college students from 18 colleges and universities across the nation spending the week of March 9-17 to build 15 houses. This is the largest Habitat for Humanity build in the country this year.

The College's team leaders, Audra Barbour '03, Minety Abraham '04, and Nicole Moore '05, an SGA service representative, led the Habitat team in a two-week fundraiser that brought $2,470.00 in donations to support the trip. The money will be given to the Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity to help build homes in the area.

"This is the third year we have participated in the program and each year the number of students participating has doubled," said Vicky Sawyer, Washington College's associate director of career development and coordinator of campus service learning. "It's a very popular program, and our students are always recruiting more people to do it for the next year."

Sawyer and Leah Newell, director of international students and programs, will accompany the students.

Collegiate Challenge is a year-round program, coordinated through the Campus Charters and Youth Programs department at Habitat for Humanity International in Americus, Ga. More than 10,000 students from more than 450 colleges, universities and high schools will work at more than 200 sites nationwide for the Collegiate Challenge Spring Break 2002. Many of the Washington College students joining the Collegiate Challenge program are active members of the Washington College Student Service Council, as well as the campus' service organizations such as Hands Out, FORCE and Target Tutoring. This program allows students the opportunity to help others build new homes, new hope and new lives, while bringing back skills, experiences and enthusiasm to share with the rest of their campus.

Over 400 New Students to Participate in Day of Service

Chestertown, MD, August 14, 2001 — Over 400 new Washington College students will participate in the third annual "Into the Streets Day of Service" on Thursday, August 23, 2001. Students will perform volunteer work throughout the Mid-Shore community. The day will begin with a morning pep rally in the campus' MarthaWashington Square before each group of 20 students heads off with a peer mentor for a day of community service.

"Into the Streets is a great way to introduce our new students to the Eastern Shore community," said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development and overseer of service learning at Washington College. "There is no better way for new students to experience ways in which their talents and time can have a positive effect on the lives of others."

Students will participate in a variety of human services and environmental projects on the Shore, including a house restoration in Crumpton, the Kent Center's field day for special needs adults and children, trail maintenance at Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park, and animal care at the Humane Society of Kent County. Student groups also will volunteer at Echo Hill Outdoor School, Camp Fairlee Manor, Eastern Neck Island, the Horsehead Wetlands Center, the Kent Association for Riding Therapy, Magnolia Hall, the Millington Wildlife Center, Pickering Creek, and Wye Island.

The Into the Streets Day of Service was started by Washington College student Gia Grier '02 after she attended the 1999 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) Conference. With new ideas inspired by COOL, she worked with Sawyer to develop and increase service learning programs on and off campus for Washington College students. Into the Streets was created specifically to provide incoming freshman and transfer students a day to experience the variety of social and service organizations on the Shore that welcome student volunteers.

"Into the Streets provides our incoming students their first foray into their new community," said Sawyer. "It is a way to find kindred spirits and friends and encourage student initiative and community involvement. Through formal programs such as this, we have seen student participation in service learning increase on our campus over the past several years." For more information on Into the Streets, or if you represent a community organization seeking student volunteers, contact Vicky Sawyer at 410-778-7892.

WC Students Offer Their Help to Habitat for Humanity Over Spring Break

Chestertown, MD — It’s not unusual for a vanload of Washington College students to head off to Florida for spring break. What set this group apart from the denizens of sun-worshippers heading south was their daily itinerary—rise at 6 a.m., drive to a construction site, and work all day in the hot sun, all for a good cause.

Sophomore Gia Greer led Washington College’s team of ten Habitat for Humanity volunteers, who spent four days helping to build a house for a Gainesville, Fla., family. The all-female crew camped out in the basement of a doctor’s suburban home by night and teamed up with a contingent from University of New Hampshire to hang siding and nail on roof shingles by day. (link to Gainesville article)

"It gave us a huge sense of accomplishment, knowing that we were helping somebody in particular, and realizing that we were capable of putting a roof on a house," commented Grier, the SGA’s Service Chair. "We also had a lot of fun bonding as a group and meeting other people. We especially enjoyed exchanging stories with the New Hampshire group. Coming from a large school, they couldn’t believe that an underclassman had organized this trip."

In response to the "huge interest" shown in the spring break alternative this year, Grier hopes to put together two or three Habitat for Humanity teams next year. "Everyone who went thought it was a great experience."

WC Semester Begins With Into the Streets Service Project

Chestertown, MD — Washington College freshmen went "Into the Streets and Into the Community" on August 29, learning how to give back to their new home even before classes began. More than 300 new students and group leaders ventured out across the region to perform service learning projects as part of the college's freshman orientation program.

The idea to use a large-scale service learning initiative as part of orientation was developed by two Washington College students, sophomore Gia Grier and senior Katie Preen. The students would get an introduction to the local area and their fellow classmates, while becoming familiar with the value of service learning. Grier and Preen attended a Campus Outreach Opportunity League conference last March and came back resolved to introduce all new students to community service, said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development.

"We wanted to jump-start the service aspect of campus life," said Preen, who estimated that 85 percent of incoming freshmen participated in the event. "We are really happy with how it turned out. We're hoping everyone had a good time and gained some incentive to continue service work."

"They were determined this would happen and submitted a proposal to include this activity in the orientation program," said Sawyer. "They really did a lot to make it happen."

Freshmen are often "bombarded with information" during orientation activities, according to Sawyer, so the "Into the Streets" program allowed the new students to "use energy, be physical, get off campus, and bond with each other." Sawyer said Grier and Preen worked throughout the summer on the "Into the Streets" project. They contacted potential service sites, wrote letters to new students, trained orientation leaders, arranged transportation, designed shirts, and created a positive atmosphere for success.

While participating in the project, new students learned about a broad spectrum of community organizations. Some freshmen and upper-class orientation leaders built wildlife boxes, cleaned beaches, and toured a farm museum at Turner's Creek in Kennedyville, while others restored trails and shorelines at Eastern Neck Island in Rock Hall, Echo Hill Outdoor School in Betterton, Camp Fairlee Manor in Fairlee, and Millington Wildlife Preserve in Millington. Other groups worked to preserve wetlands at Horsehead Wetlands Center in Grasonville, and some students served lunch at Magnolia Hall Nursing Center in Chestertown. Students also volunteered their efforts at Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park, Pickering Creek Environmental Center in Easton, and Wye Island in Wye Mills.

"I was very proud, as well as happy, to see all the incoming students who turned out to do meaningful service activities in the Kent County community," said Grier. "I hope that this project will mark the beginning of a great year in service learning and will spark the interest of students who may not have previously been active in service."

Additionally, Sawyer said, instructors teaching Community, Nation and World seminars, required for freshmen, were asked to incorporate the community service project as a component for the course and to link the students' service experience to their studies.

"I think the project has made a major difference in the community," said Sawyer. "The new students offered valuable volunteer help, they learned about service projects and the significance of the sites, and hopefully they found a good cause to serve again."