The Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) has a vision of providing opportunities to engage in community service to students, faculty and staff. The Center does this in a number of ways by building long-term connections with local, national and international organizations. The foundation of all of the Center’s connections is a reciprocal relationship.
Two of the most well-known initiatives by the CCCE are the Blue Jay Pantry and Blue Jay Career Closet. The pantry is available to all students, providing them with free and non-perishable food items that are sourced by donations from the local community. The pantry’s goals are to eliminate food insecurity at the College, remove barriers that exist for students experiencing hunger and facing difficulty purchasing food and providing students with resources that help students make their own healthy meals.
The career closet works to ensure that all students are able to access attire they would need for job interviews, student placements, career fairs and any other event where professional attire is required. The career closet, which was proposed by the Student Senate class of 2022 and established in the summer of that year, uses donations given by community members. The closet strengthens the connections between the CCCE, the Career Development Center and other academic programs. These interdepartmental supports aid in ensuring that students’ needs are fulfilled and that students are given an even playing field when it comes to career opportunities.
The CCCE often hosts service trips over breaks, which allows students to volunteer their time during breaks to help other communities. One such example is the annual Fall Break Service Trip, which took place on Oct. 5-7 this year. Students who decided to stay over break and help with this initiative clocked around 20 hours of service each by going to the Lancaster-Lebanon Habitat for Humanity’s build site in Columbia, Pa. The students worked on building houses for disadvantaged families for about eight hours a day.
Lancaster-Lebanon Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that helps families by building and renovating homes, with the mission of providing affordable houses in order to create the framework for a strong, stable community. Throughout the years, they have been able to help a large number of families, and they rely heavily on volunteers. This means that it is paramount for institutions like the College to commit to long-term collaborations to aid Lancaster-Lebanon Habitat for Humanity’s mission.
One such commitment was the College’s goal of delivering one cold weather item, such as thermal socks,knit gloves and hats, to a local service organization per each student in the incoming Class of 2027 that made their deposit before May 1, 2023. It is important to note that the Class of 2027 is the class with the highest enrollment since 2009, with 530 students committing to the College before the May deadline.
The students were able to experience different projects, such as placing siding on four row houses and aiding in building scaffolding and frames for outdoor storage. This experience not only helped disadvantaged families in the community but also helped students develop many skills, such as using power tools.
“Learning new skills and helping the community will help me later in life and in my career,” early childhood education major and first-year Macey Coll said.
The CCCE relies on the help of student workers, who are able to run a number of the events held by the Center, such as Into the Streets.Director of the CCCE Javita Thompson has played an influential part in shaping the vision for the Center. Thompson leads by example, serving in the community by working with other organizations that work with disadvantaged communities.
Thompson was selected recently for the first individual cohort for the United Way of Lancaster County’s Project Blueprint. This project is a training and resource tool for diverse community members from disadvantaged backgrounds and aims to help individuals become leaders in their local communities. Other people of that cohort include participants that work on nonprofit and public governance boards. Thompson was selected based on her potential to become a leader in her community.
The project works by providing nine monthly training sessions that are facilitated by field experts. These sessions are an opportunity to learn more about what it means to be a leader, establish connections with other community members, explore ways to influence a community in positive ways and build long-term interdisciplinary commitments to diversity and belonging.
“I value being able to connect with people who have a similar vision for solving problems and seeking resources to help others benefit who might not have the same opportunity to thrive as others,” Thompson said. “I am honored to be among this group of strong leaders.”
Students are encouraged to become involved with the CCCE by visiting the office located on the second floor of the BSC (Brossman Commons 247), emailing civicengagement@etown.edu, or calling the Center at 717-361-3025. To learn more about the CCCE, visit https://www.etown.edu/centers/community-civic/
