Community Engagement Office, 177 CSU, 507-389-5789, Community.Engagement@mnsu.edu http://www.mnsu.edu/engagement/ https://orgsync.com/62632/chapter https://www.facebook.com/mnsucommunityengagement/ January 20, 2017 Welcome back! A huge "Thank You' goes out to the 200 people who volunteered at our MLK Day of Service event. Activities took place in the CSU, on the first floor. There is already talk of making it bigger and better next year, so if you missed this year, visit the CEO Facebook Page to check out the photos, and join in the Mavs in Action meetings, Thursdays at 4 pm in the Community Engagement Office, to join the committee. Congratulations to Rina Matsuda, member of Mavs in Action, the community engagement programming team. If you have walked past the Hearth Lounge in the CSU, you will see her photo and leadership quote are on the wall, along with a few other student chose for this semester's "BEST Board". We are pleased that her leadership initiatives are being recognized. Congratulations Rina! Congratulations to Rachel Hoehn, MSU, Mankato '16, for her fundraising effort to support The REACH, a program designed to support youth ages 16 24 facing homelessness. As a result of the November Homelessness Awareness Sleepout, Rachel overheard a conversation about the event, including the data regarding homeless youth in the Mankato community. As a result, Rachel started a "Go Fund Me" account and raised $1500 in December 2016. Stop by and visit us at the Community Engagement Fair, 1/24 from 10:30am 1 pm on Mav Ave and at the Student Organization Fair, 1/25 from 11 am 2 pm in the CSU Ballroom. January 22 Biscuits, Bagels and PBJs at Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help package bread, bagels and sandwiches for the weekly distribution. For more details or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website.
January 23 Prep Shift at the Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help cut and portion the food for weekly distribution on Monday, from 3:30-5 pm. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. January 23 Packaging Shift at Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help package individual meals for distribution to agencies, to share with people facing food insecurity. The shift is from 5-6:30 pm. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. January 24 Community Engagement Fair Clean Up Volunteers are sought to help agencies pack up their booth after the Community Engagement Fair, Tuesday, January 24 from 10:30 am 1 pm on Mav Ave. The shift is from 12:45-1:45 pm. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. January 29 Biscuits, Bagels and PBJs at Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help package bread, bagels and sandwiches for the weekly distribution. For more details or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. January 30 Prep Shift at the Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help cut and portion the food for weekly distribution. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. January 30 Packaging Shift at Campus Kitchen This event is closed to only members of Circle K - package individual meals for distribution to agencies, to share with people facing food insecurity. The shift is from 5-6:30 pm. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website February 3 Cat in the Hat Tryouts Encourage kids to read and the love of literacy by trying out to be our Cat in the Hat for the Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. February 5 Biscuits, Bagels and PBJs at Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help package bread, bagels and sandwiches for the weekly distribution. For more details or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. February 6 Prep Shift at the Campus Kitchen Volunteers are sought to help cut and portion the food for weekly distribution. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. February 6 Packaging Shift at Campus Kitchen This event is closed to only members of Circle K - package individual meals for distribution to agencies, to share with people facing food insecurity. The shift is from 5-6:30 pm. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync event website. February 17 Dr Seuss Birthday Celebration Arts and Crafts Help area kindergarten students do a craft in conjunction with a Dr. Seuss story. For more details, or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. February 17 Dr Seuss Birthday Celebration Readers
Help instill the love of literacy by reading a Dr. Seuss story to area kindergarten students. For more details, or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. February 18 Recyclemania Help educate the crowd in Bresnan Arena about the importance of recycling at this event. Volunteers will get to watch the game and help with recycling. For more information or to sign up, visit the CEO OrgSync website. Ready to Learn Mentors are needed to help transition children into the American school system! Ready to Learn is an in-home program where trained mentors go into the homes of local immigrant and refugee families. Mentors use a national curriculum to help parents identify what they need to know to get their children ready for entering kindergarten in an American school system. Mentors will work with not only the parents, but also the child to get them ready to enter school. A mentor will be working with children ages birth to 5. Scheduling is matched up by the availability of the volunteer and the availability of the family. Training to become a mentor scheduled for January 21st from 9AM-2PM. If you have any questions about the program please contact Erin Roberts at 507.345.4629 or email her at erinroberts@ywcamankato.org. Girls On The Run Volunteers are needed for the Girls on the Run Program and the Heart & Sole Program. Girls on the Run and Heart & Sole incorporates physical activity with positive lifestyle development. Girls on the Run is for girls in grades 3-5 and Heart & Sole is for girls in grades 6-8. Both groups will be taught by trained coaches using research curricula to promote healthy living and positive physical activity habits. Upon completing the program, there will be a celebratory 5K run/walk event on April 22. There will be multiple sites running every day of the week from 2:30PM-5:00 PM. Training is scheduled for January 21st from noon-5pm. For more information about these groups, contact Erin Roberts at 507-345-4629 or by email at erinroberts@ywcamankato.org The Mankato Salvation Army Noon Feeding Program Volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve food to starving men, women, and children here in the Mankato area every day from Noon to 1pm. Volunteers will help with the set-up, meal preparation, serving and clean up. This event takes place in the Salvation Army cafeteria located on 700 South Riverfront Drive in Mankato. Volunteers are expected to come by at 10am and work until 1pm. If you are interested in volunteering, call (507)-345-7840.
LEEP Newsletter Folding Volunteers are needed to help LEEP fold newsletter. Each month they send out our Newsletter to almost 700 participants and their families. The newsletters are folded on the following days: Thursday, January 12, 2017, Tuesday, February 14, 2017, Tuesday, March 14, 2017, Thursday, April 13, 2017. The times are: 11am- 12:30pm, 12:30pm-2pm, 2pm-3:30pm. Meet at the LEEP Office 929 N 4th St. Mankato MN 56001. To sign up, email Ali at athletics@mankatoleep.org. YMCA Mentoring Program The Mankato YMCA is looking for adults who are looking to make a difference in a child's life by meeting with them once or twice a week to act as a mentor. There are two different programs that the YMCA offers; The Brother/Sister Mentoring Program, and the School-based Mentoring Program. Both programs require you meet with your youth match once a week (those in the School-based Mentoring Program meet during school hours), and the two of you will partake in some kind of activity. Your job as the mentor is not to be their parent, but to instead be their friend. Listen and talk to them in a nonjudgmental way. The goal is to increase the youth's social and communication skills, as well as help improve relationships at home, in school, and in the community. If you are interested in either of the two programs, contact Cheryl Hamond by phone at 507-345-9815. Or if you are interested in learning about other volunteering opportunities The YMCA has to offer, check out their website http://mankatoymca.org/ Colleges Against Cancer Colleges Against Cancer, a student club on campus, is seeking extra help on January 27 at the men's hockey game. Starting at 5 pm, volunteers will hand out glow sticks to all the fans. During intermission, the group will hold a "miracle minute" during which the student volunteers will collect change from fans in the stands to donate to the American Cancer Society. All totaled, the commitment would be from 5pm-around 8:30 pm and will take place at the Verizon Center. If you are interested in helping with this event or other ways to support the American Cancer Society, contact Emily Wilson, President of Colleges Against Cancer, emily.wilson@mnsu.edu Pedal Past Poverty The Fifth Annual Pedal Past Poverty is coming up! his one-of-a-kind stationary bike race helps bring attention to the issue of ending homelessness and affordable housing in the Mankato area! During the event, roughly 60 teams made up of 10 people each will compete to win a wide array of prizes based on how much money the team has raised and how many miles they have biked. Before the event, teams are able to ask family and friends to donate and sponsor their team. The event is held on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at the Blue Gym at the Mankato YMCA. If you are interested in sponsoring, donating, or even having a team of your own, you can head to http://partnersforhousing.org/pedal/ for more information.
Spring Community Engagement Fair 2017 Join us for the fair on Tuesday, January 24, from 10:30 am - 1 pm on Mav Ave of the CSU! Our annual spring community engagement fair features service agencies seeking student volunteers, interns, and paid employees. Casual walk through event for anyone interested in learning more about community agencies and how to get involved. Faculty with Service-Learning classes are encouraged to send their students to attend. This is also helpful for internationals students seeking Cultural Contribution Hours. For more information, contact the CEO, 389-5789. Campus Kitchen Shift Leaders Sought the Campus Kitchen is looking for someone to serve as a shift leader on Sundays from 5-6:30 pm, helping with the Biscuit and Bagel shift. We are also looking for someone to drive for the delivery shift, Tuesdays from 8:30-10:30 am. By committing to be a shift leader, you would volunteer weekly, or trade off with another shift leader, but you are committing to at least a semester of service. The application can be found here, https://orgsync.com/62632/forms/190875 Application deadline is January 27, 2017. The Campus Kitchen is a student-run program that collects food from the Mankato community to be packaged and redistributed to families facing food insecurities here in the Mankato area. As a shift leader, you will need to know how to manage volunteers, as well as know safe food and kitchen practices. For more information about the shift leader position, contact Karen Anderson, karen.anderson@mnsu.edu or Nathan Steussy, nathan.steussy@mnsu.edu Mavs In Action Seeking a Homecoming Chair Plan the service event for Homecoming 2017, or just join the committee. Now is the time to get in on the groundwork to make the October event spectacular. For more information, contact Karen Anderson, karen.anderson@mnsu.edu The Davy Family Service Scholarship/ Haley Krumm Scholarships are a good way for college students to get some help with their education by most often simply being their awesome selves! Here at the Community Engagement Office at Minnesota State University, Mankato we are promoting the Davy Family Service Scholarship, also known as the Volunteer-of-the-Year Scholarship and our currently accepting applications. Students are encouraged to apply directly, but faculty members, staff members, student organizations and the greater Mankato area community are encouraged to mention this opportunity to students they believe would be interested and eligible. This scholarship ranges
from 500-$1,000 which would be a great help for your next years academic tuition. To be qualified for this scholarship you must be a full-time MSU, Mankato student and making satisfactory progress toward graduation. You must also have provided verified, worthwhile volunteer service to the people of the Mankato or surrounding communities (not including service to MSU, Mankato). If you have been keeping up on your OrgSync service entries, this application should be a breeze! There are also certain criteria for this selection process, so please follow the link to learn more! Know someone who would like to receive the newsletter? Have an important service project you would like shared? Want to offer your reflection on a service experience? Contact us at Community.Engagement@mnsu.edu