University Hosts Annual Volunteer Fair

Students at The University of Scranton were able to help with hurricane relief, at animal shelters, mentoring at local schools and many other projects by volunteering through local non-profit organizations participating in the University’s annual Volunteer Fair.

One organization at the fair, The American Red Cross, had more opportunities for students beyond assisting with blood donations and included helping with hurricane relief services, a flu prevention checklist and a home fire prevention campaign targeting young children. Even though most University of Scranton students know of the organization specifically for blood donations, American Red Cross representatives at the fair wanted student volunteers to recognize there is more they could do to help out.

The Campus Ministries’ Center for Service and Social Justice arranged the fair for students to learn about volunteer opportunities available at 65 different local non-profit organizations.

Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, another participant, provides care for homeless, unwanted and abused animals. Students were able to volunteer for any time they desired to work with directly with the animals or for other tasks needed at the shelter.

“Absolutely, we rely on students,” Griffin Pond representative Chris Mathewson said. “We get a lot of student volunteers who are not local and miss their dogs and cats, so they like the aspect we present of seeing the animals during the semester.”

Other agencies like Junior Achievement of NEPA had volunteers signing-up to work with younger students at local school districts.

Junior Achievement of NEPA serves to teach students in kindergarten to 12th grade each year about entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness. Volunteers teach directly in the classroom and work hands-on with the students. The newly student-founded business club, Kania Service Society, is working directly with Junior Achievement this year.

Many students who were active with Junior Achievement in high school are now returning to help out in college, according to Junior Achievement program manager Maria DeLucca of Pittston.

With so many different agencies represented at the fair, students like Joe Marushin of Hazelton, a sophomore at The University of Scranton, wanted to be able to find an agency to commit to for the long term.

“I honestly want to find just one organization to stick with – especially with my schedule,” Marushin said.

More than 650 students attended in the Volunteer Fair this year.

Eric Eiden ’19, Throop, is a journalism/electronic media major at The University of Scranton.