The volunteers will work until the early afternoon on 20 projects to support 12 nonprofits, including a senior center in Canaan, N.H.; Willing Hands, an organization that provides fresh produce to the needy; and the LISTEN thrift store and food pantry.
“I enjoy volunteering because I get to use skills that I don’t use in my academic life, such as painting or installing vinyl siding, and because people in the community are very interesting to listen to and spend time with,” says Dartmouth senior Derek Su ’11, a biomedical engineering major who has volunteered seven times with the nonprofit COVER Home Repair. “This work has been an integral part of my Dartmouth experience.”
Dartmouth students will be working at COVER Home Repair and eleven other nonprofits during the Oct. 9 Day of Caring. From left: Nancy Bloomfield ’99, Rhona Dallison ’99, and Danra Kazenski ’99 helped create COVER in 1998. Based in White River Jct., Vt., the nonprofit organizes community based home repair projects in the Upper Valley. (photo taken in October 2001 by Joseph Mehling ’69)
Along with 17 other Dartmouth students, Su will spend Saturday surfacing a newly cleared path that leads from a popular rail trail in Lebanon, N.H., to a community pool. Paul Coats, executive director of Lebanon Recreation and Parks, says, “Once it’s finished the pool will be accessible via the trail to people with strollers and wheelchairs. It’s great to have the help.”
Dartmouth student groups, such as the Multi-faith Council, sororities Epsilon Kappa Theta and Alpha Xi Delta, and fraternities Kappa Kappa Kappa and Zeta Psi, are among those sending volunteers.
The Day of Caring is part of the 2010 Dartmouth Campaign for the United Way that will officially launch later this fall. This year’s campaign chair is Steve Kadish, Dartmouth’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. Dartmouth has conducted a United Way campaign every year since 1971, raising more than $5,034,000 through contributions from staff, faculty, and students.
Last year, through the Tucker Foundation, members of the Dartmouth community participated in 41,598 hours worth of volunteer projects and events throughout the Upper Valley.
The Day of Caring was organized by Granite United Way (formerly Upper Valley United Way), Ledyard National Bank, Hypertherm, Timken Aerospace, Trumbull-Nelson Construction, and Dartmouth’s Tucker Foundation and the Alumni Relations Office.
Day of Caring volunteers will work for the following organizations. To learn more about the projects, visit the Volunteer New Hampshire website. For more information e-mail dayofcaring@dartmouth.edu.
COVER Home Repair Enfield Shaker Museum Enfield Village Association Granite United Way offices Hannah House, Inc. Lebanon Recreation and Parks Lebanon School District, Books to Young Readers Project LISTEN Community Services Mascoma Area Senior Center Upper Valley Haven Upper Valley Hostel Willing Hands