How To Get Involved In Community Service While In College

This is a podcast done by my classmate, Jena Dean and I. We wanted to give listeners a few options on how they can actively participate in service abroad, and in the community, while in college. We talk about AmeriCorps, Alternative Breaks, Non Profit Organizations, and Study Abroad opportunities, all of which can be made to fit your schedule and are all provided here at Washburn University.

Holiday Fundraisers Coming Up for Three Local Non Profits in Topeka

The holiday season is quickly approaching. In the next two weeks alone, I have 3 events I have committed not only myself, but my Sorority Chapter, to attend. I am very attached to Junior Achievement, of course, but there are two other organizations that I am passionate about as well.

The Topeka Performing Arts Center provides free programming to elementary students, and every year they have a Gingerbread Homes for the Holidays event, in which elaborate houses are made, and people can also make their own! I will be bringing a few women on the 16th and 17th of this month to volunteer at this event to help monitor the gingerbread house-building tables and clean up in-between projects. There are a few women that I admire, who are great volunteers at TPAC and have inspired me to get involved, as well.

TPAC Gingerbread Homes for the Holidays

Shawnee County Court Appointed Special Advocates is probably the non-profit closest to my heart, because it is my Sorority's national philanthropy. They find volunteers to go and speak for children in court, that may not truly have anyone on their side if they did not have their CASA. We support them with a few fundraisers a year at Washburn, but always help with their annual Holiday Home Tour, in which several nice houses in Topeka get decorated and tickets are sold to go through and tour them. Thetas volunteer at one house as "docents" all weekend, monitoring the rooms and mingling with the guests. It is a great way to meet CASAs, Theta Alums, and other influential people in Topeka. This year, we will be helping on the 23rd and 24th for the Holiday Homes Tour.

CASA Holiday Homes Tour

The third event we are partaking in is of course the Junior Achievement Benefit Auction. It will be the evening of the 23rd, and I have gotten several women, along with some men from a few fraternities on campus to come to the auction and monitor the tables, while doing whatever else we need to do to keep the auction running smoothly. The larger items will have to be carried up to the stage, so I imagine that will be part of the job. I am excited to see how it goes, and am also looking forward to how much we are going to raise for JA! This Facebook page has some relevant information to this event:

Junior Achievement "Invest in Success" Benefit Auction

New Responsibilities as an Intern

For the past few months, I have been working mainly as a volunteer, and helped with the Junior Achievement of Kansas "Invest in Success" Benefit Auction, to take place on November 23rd. Recently, I have been given some opportunities to get involved with the volunteer recruiting and programming of JA. I have been finding classroom information from all of the elementary schools in USD 501, finding the teachers, classrooms, grades, and students in each, so that JA can start asking teachers and planning on getting programming into those classes in the spring.

I have also gotten the chance to begin helping with a project for the 2013 Business Laureate Announcement. Every year, JA announces Laureates to be put in the Junior Achievement Business Laureate Hall of Fame for their contribution to Junior Achievement or the Topeka Community. It is to inspire students to go big and try to make a difference out in the world. I think it is not only a great way to recognize great people in our community, but it is great publicity for Junior Achievement, and may even inspire someone in the future to follow in their footsteps.

I, as a neutral nonmember of Junior Achievement, have to administer a survey to the board, because I am evidently unaffiliated with Junior Achievement (a.k.a they don't pay me). I'm a little confused why they are having me do it; I think it is to just get an idea of things they are doing right, and things they could do better. It is good to get feedback, because criticism really does even help good programs improve. It will be interesting to sift through all of the opinions and learn from them to see what works and what doesn't, when running this particular non profit organization.

Why YOU Should Consider Becoming a JA Volunteer

It is safe to say, that if I did  not have this opportunity to be an intern at JA, I would never have become a volunteer. I just filled the spots that they were missing, and am doing anything they ask me to do. I want to encourage and inspire others discover that Junior Achievement is so fun, yet serious. It can make a huge impact in students academics and help them realize the importance of school, goals, and a future career. JA usually finds volunteers from within businesses around time, usually banks or corporations. Normally, they still pay you for the time you spend teaching JA. The time spent, though, is only one hour a week for six weeks. It's pretty simple! Such a small time commitment can really make a huge difference. kansasja.org  has the most current contact information for JA in the Topeka and surrounding areas. Even if you're not sure, give them a call!

Today, I gave my second session at Landon Middle School, and a first session at Eisenhower Middle School. I encountered some bumps along the way, but all in all, they were good sessions. The Eisenhower class was in the morning, and it was a smaller class than I had at Landon. There were only 12 students present, so it was easy to keep their attention. It wasn't as good as my first run at Landon, but I think I got across to some of the students, at least. For the last 10 minutes I shared my experience so far in college (academically), and they asked me questions about school. Mrs. Arnold, the class teacher, was very helpful in this area. We talked about how the foundations learned in middle and high school really help you later on.

At Landon, my class was extra rowdy. It was hard to keep their focus, and their teacher had a headache and was communicating with them through the projector screen with Microsoft Word. I would try to talk, and see everyone's eyes shift toward the screen, look back, and discovered that he was just adding his own commentary. Safe to say, we made it through about half of the activities that were planned for that session. Oh, did I mention, half of the class left in the middle of the session because of an honor roll assembly. So the rowdiness did commence at that point.

Just another day as a Junior Achievement Volunteer.