Alternative Spring Break (ASB) 2013 leaders and participants from ASB New York City, ASB US Virgin Islands National Park, and ASB Nicaragua reflected on their ASB experiences upon returning to campus. Click on the poster to see what they had to say!
Football coach Steve Opgenorth said: “These guys that have exemplified BTC this spring would just like to be recognized for our team’s efforts and total hours of community service.”
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- Connor Clancy
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- Paul Gallagher
Josh Balk and Lily Holland, program leaders for Best Buddies wrote, “Natasha, does not live in the group home and is confined to a wheelchair andMolly and Nell always make sure to make extra arrangements to accommodate their buddy’s needs. They regularly see their buddy outside of our monthly events. Their buddy could not be more pleased to be paired with Molly and Nell this year, the three of them can always be found chatting and giggling at events. Most recently, Molly and Nell brought a group of Colby students to attend a Drag Ball that was a fundraiser for their buddy’s new wheelchair lift. Great job Molly and Nell!
Molly Cox & Nell Pryor
Amanda and Naomi volunteered yesterday to help rake leaves for a local resident in Oakland. If you are interested in helping out next week, contact cvc@colby.edu.
Yesterday, Best Buddies took a trip to Portland to root for the Sea Dogs. After finding our seats in section 113, we enjoyed the game. After the fourth inning, we decided to get some delicious food: fried dough and french fries. Although the Portland Sea Dogs ultimately lost 8-6, we all had a great time!
Saturday April 20 turned out to be a great day for volunteering. Colby Cares Day was a great success! We had, including the faculty involved and the two football coaches, 282 volunteers! Thanks to everyone who participated.
Here are some photos that we took:
Here are some more photos from Eliza Larson:
Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter continues to expand! There was an incredible surge in interest this semester from Colby volunteers. Currently, we have teams of two and three for breakfast and dinner shifts nearly every day of the week – a significant increase from prior semesters (weekend morning shifts are still available!). Beyond this, Katherine Rizk, Thomas Gregston, and Cat McClure even hold multiple shifts each week; they’re simply stellar.
Recently, a family with several young kids came to the shelter in need of child support. Our fantastic volunteers were quick to lend their time. Madi Louis was incredible as always and helped to coordinate a volunteer schedule during the week; she also volunteered to watch them in the morning. Likewise, our beloved Katherine Rizk went daily to get the kids ready for bed, read bedtime stories, and tuck them in during what must have been a really trying time. Feedback from shelter staff and guests attest to how wonderful she and other volunteers were. Now that the schedule has settled down, it’s still so wonderful to see these awesome youngsters during breakfast or dinner.
From sorting donations to playing some great music at dinner, it’s been a super productive and fun semester. Mid-Maine is truly grateful to have such a great collection of devoted volunteers! We can only imagine what fantastic things the future holds for us!
Love always,
Mid-Maine
Congratulations to our March Volunteers of the Month!
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- Kylie VanBuren: Laura and Brittany, program leaders for Hardy Girls Healthy Women, wrote us and said that, “Our volunteers of the month are Katrina Belle and Kylie VanBuren who completed a whole school action project in which their girls group prepared media literacy questions on girls group to ask to the assembly and helping all non members to work through, bringing awareness to media’s use of girl-fighting. A social action project of this size it extremely difficult to complete and speaks volumes to their dedication to the girls and empowering them to take on a massive project and successfully carry it out flawlessly.”
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- Meagan Hennessey: Jen, program leader for Maine Aspirations, wrote us and said that, “I would like to nominate Meagan Hennessey for volunteer of the month. Meagan has been an extremely committed member of Maine Aspirations for the past three years. I know that I can always count on Meagan to lead fantastic tours. As the ME Aspirations program leader, I have asked Meagan a number of times to take on a leadership role when I was unable to attend a tour and she has always been more than willing to help out. Today, the students visiting Colby were dropped off at the wrong location on campus. Meagan noticed that the group had been dropped off at the wrong spot and took it upon herself to gather all the students and bring them to the correct location. This is just one of countless times that Meagan has gone way beyond what is expected of her as a tour guide. Meagan has been an incredible asset to the Maine Aspirations program and it has been pleasure to work with such a dedicated individual.”
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- Kylie VanBuren: Laura and Brittany, program leaders for Hardy Girls Healthy Women, wrote us and said that, “Our volunteers of the month are Katrina Belle and Kylie VanBuren who completed a whole school action project in which their girls group prepared media literacy questions on girls group to ask to the assembly and helping all non members to work through, bringing awareness to media’s use of girl-fighting. A social action project of this size it extremely difficult to complete and speaks volumes to their dedication to the girls and empowering them to take on a massive project and successfully carry it out flawlessly.”
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- Jesus Vidaurri-Martinez: Jesus has been very dedicated to Best Buddies throughout his time entire time with the program. He works with a buddy who does not live in the group home and always organizes special transportation for his buddy. Jesus has really connected with his buddy, who is severely handicapped and we would recognize his work and commitment to the Best Buddies program. He really makes a difference for his buddy, Roger. Thanks Jesus!
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- Thomas Gregston: Amanda Lavigueur, Associate Director of the CVC, wrote us and said that, “You are phenomenal as an ambassador for the CVC both to EnviroCo and to the Class of 2015. Every time I ask you to help me out with the somewhat tedious task of sending General Announcements to the Class of 2015 or to help with anything in general, you always do so with a cheerful readiness to help out. You are also very committed to your volunteering at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter!”
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- Vianey Mora & Kathryn Bai Julie and Catherine, program leaders of Birthday Wishes, wrote us and said that, “We would like to nominate Vianey Mora and Katheryn Bai for outstanding volunteers. They have come to about six birthday parties with us, the most out of all of our volunteers. They are so great with the children and really love coming to the parities. They are so quick to volunteer for any job we need help with and have baked several birthday cakes for us. We are really appreciative of them!”
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- Courtney and Shannon, program leaders for the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, wrote us and said that, “Madi is simply exceptional. She takes initiative in generating interest in the shelter and is always ready to help with events and scheduling. Plus, it is obvious to the shelter staff and guests that Madi possesses a genuine sense of compassion and enthusiasm during her morning shifts; her dependability is a welcome constant. Mid-Maine is forever grateful to have her as a volunteer!”
In regards to the 2013 Maine Philanthropy Awards, the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement and the Maine Association of Nonprofits (MANP) recently announced that “This year, the selection committee has chosen Matt White ’14 to receive the Colby Student Award. During his sophomore year, Matt began MulePrep, a program that offers free SAT preparation to students in the greater Waterville area. Under Matt’s leadership, the program has grown to provide assistance to 75 students and 6 teachers for the Fall 2012 session. He continues to explore ways he can make a larger impact on youth education in central Maine, and has recently begun working to start a mentoring program for first generation college students.” The Awards’ dinner will be happening on April 26, 2013 at Colby College. To find out more about the the Maine Philanthropy Awards and the April 26, 2013 Nonprofit Leadership Conference, please click here.
We had quite a few kids who were helping us come up with ideas and sketches. We have three spots to work on if we want to and we worked mainly on the one upstairs in the TV room yesterday. We went ahead and laid a base coat of white on the upstairs and porch mural sections so it will be easier to sketch out ideas/colors will stand out better. Themural upstairs is going to be an anti-bullying message with various animals saying anti-bullying slogans. It’s gonna be awesome. For the other volunteers coming in, the one upstairs is sketched out on the white but if they need more of an idea as to what we were trying to do, there are preliminary sketches in Steve’s office.
This semester, Hardy Girls Healthy Women volunteers have been working harder than ever to create the best possible experience for the girls in their groups. Once a week, co-leaders travel to an elementary or middle school and spend about an hour with a group of 4-10 girls discussing topics such as media literacy, girl fighting, family, and healthy dating relationships. As we approach the end of the semester, many groups are beginning social action projects. These projects focus on an issue inside or outside of the school that is important to the girls. They choose a creative way (making a video, writing a petition, or designing a brochure for example) to deliver a message about this issue to the school or larger group. Many volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty last Friday when they helped out at the annual Girls Unlimited Conference. This conference brings girls from the greater Waterville area to Colby’s Diamond building for the day where they participate in a variety of workshops and fun activities geared towards developing leadership skills, self confidence building, and girl empowerment. It is a great way for the girls to come together, learn more, and share what they know!
