Service Oppurtunities

Need to do service hours but want to have fun doing it and be able to interact with other Psychology majors and professors? Sign up to help with this spring's Second Harvest Heartland Trip! The date is WEDNESDAY APRIL 27th 4:30-7pm. Space is limited to 25 people, Sign-up sheets will be available starting MONDAY APRIL 11th on Jessica Cook's desk.  Email Erin at eephillips1@stthomas.edu if you have any questions!

Want to do your service project close to campus and in a fun environment? Try the Child Development Center here on campus! Contact the center at: childdevelop@stthomas.edu or call the center at 2-5040.

Spring Community Clean-up. Sunday April 17th from 1-4 pm meet at 12:45 on NORTH campus between Dowling Hall, Ireland Hall and the Seminary. Treats still provided. One other change this spring is our team will have to take the trash bags to the compost site after we are done with our house.

7th Annual Great University Ave Clean-up Saturday April 30th 8:30-11:30 am 1717 Univ. Ave To reserve a spot please call: 651-646-2636

Good morning!  

The following is a service opportunity for your club/organization for spring!!! I have sent it to the service coordinators as well but if you are still looking for possibilities, you may want to forward this information to your group! Thanks~ Katie

THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER IS ON THE MOVE!

The UST Child Development Center will be moving into our beautiful new building on the corner of Grand Ave. and Finn St. between  April 6^th and April 12^th.  If everything goes according to plan we’ll open for business at our new location on Wednesday, April 13^th.

The UST Physical Plant will handle the actual move to the new building, but to stay on schedule, we’ll need to do all the packing and unpacking.  For this we’ll rely heavily on volunteers.  We’ll be working in two hour shifts on the dates and times listed below.  If you can help us with this huge task, please call Becca or Joanne in the CDC office at 2-5040 or sign-up on the sheet outside the office door.  We can’t provide childcare during this time, but we promise to have lots of wonderful refreshments!

Saturday, April 2^nd

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Tuesday, April 5^th

6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Wednesday, April 6^th through Friday, April 8^th

10:00 am to 4:00 pm     

Calling all Tinker Toy fanatics – We’re looking for a few people who really like to take things apart and then put them back together again. We’ll have a lot of furniture and two enormous lofts that will have to be taken apart and then reassembled in our new building.  If you spent your childhood putting together model planes and trains, or if you’re the one who can always untangle the necklace chain, we need your help!

Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

VIA announces five Habitat for Humanity dates for the spring semester.  Below find a list of dates and brief project descriptions for each day.

Note that three of the days consist of work at Emma Norton Services. Emma Norton has a number of sites around the Twin Cities that provide affordable and secure transitional housing for women and families, many of whom are escaping domestic abuse situations. Because of budget cutbacks, nearly all of their maintenance funding has been cut, so VIA volunteers will do a couple of projects at two of their sites.

Four additional "build days" are pending confirmation: two days in April and two days in May.

Carpools will depart from UST on all build days.

Here is the schedule:

8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, March 5, at the Habitat for Humanity build site:

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Emma’s Place, 2163 Van Dyke St., Maplewood:

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 9, Emma Norton Services, 670 N. Robert St., St. Paul:

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 30, Emma Norton Services, 670 N. Robert St., St. Paul:

If you are interested in signing up for any of the days, stop by the Center for Community Partnerships in Room 153, Murray-Herrick Campus Center.

Questions?   Contact Ryan or Erica.

University Relations, Athletics, Campus Life, and ACC are sponsoring a Community Appreciation Day at this Saturday's  (February 11th) men's and women's basketball double header. This event is for the neighbors and friends of our university, and it's going to be a family affair. We'll have fun for kids of all ages. A large variety of incentives are being offered to our St. Thomas community, including vouchers for free admission and popcorn, free  snow cones, cotton candy and face painting, pictures with Tommie, and some half time competitions. I'm looking for approximately  8-10 volunteers per game to help with the giveaways, face painting, and photos with Tommie, and perhaps another 2 during the half-time events. The first game is at 1, the second at 3. Volunteers for the first game should arrive at noon, and the rest of the schedule is a rolling one.

Service hours are being offered for your participation in this event, and it's a great way to show your UST spirit and have a great time! Please contact me ASAP to let me know if you're interested and how many of your organization's members are going to participate.

Feel free to e-mail me at lbsilverstei@stthomas.edu or call me at x2-6187

Thank you so much!

Lauren Silverstein, Campus Life

Hello!

Rainbow Families (www.rainbowfamilies.org) will be holding its 10th Annual Conference on Saturday, February 26th at Bryn Mawr Elementary School in Minneapolis.

We are currently in search of people who would be willing to volunteer for childcare positions. Volunteers can work a partial or full day, and the hours are as follows: All day: 8 a.m. 4 p.m.

Partial day: 8 a.m. 1 p.m. or 12 p.m. 5 p.m.

About 300 kids attend the Rainbow Families conference. They range in age from 6 months-14 years. We offer programming for them throughout the day.

Childcare Volunteers work alongside the teachers in the classrooms, help with child check-in, and assist with room set-up and clean-up. Lunch is provided.

Rainbow Families is working to build a safe, just, and affirming world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents and their children. For more information on Rainbow Families, visit our website at www.rainbowfamilies.org.

Please have anyone interested in volunteering contact Bridgette via email

(bridgette@rainbowfamilies.org)

Thank you!

 Dear St. Thomas students:

As a volunteer coordinator with the Capital City Education Initiative, I work primarily with New Spirit Schools, located in Frogtown.  You at St. Thomas may have already been notified of volunteer opportunities through our city-wide program working to improve kindergarten through grade 3 literacy in about 20 St. Paul elementary schools.

Recently, our organization began working with Groveland Park Elementary, specifically to recruit, train, and place volunteers in their Transitional Language Center.  Groveland is the fourth St. Paul public school to be designated as a TLC, a program designed specifically to meet the needs of elementary-aged Hmong children arriving as new immigrants from Thailand.

Groveland is seeking volunteers to help these children gain English language skills and transition into American school life.  Groveland is located near St. Thomas at 2045 St. Clair Ave.  Volunteers with both English and Hmong language skills would be especially helpful for Groveland's newest students, but any volunteer help during the school day would be appreciated.  Please contact me with any interest or for more information.

Lori Roholt
Americorps*VISTA volunteer coordinator

Capital City Education Initiative
New Spirit Schools
260 Edmund Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55103
651.225.9177 ext. 109