Community Connections celebrated its 5th Anniversary with our best day of service yet!
Thank you too all involved; we could not have done it without you! A special thank you goes out to our Site Leaders, Community Partners, Ground Crew, Facilities, Faculty, Staff, Bon Appétit, and our new freshmen class.
The Community Connections program began in 2005 as a way to continue the orientation process for new students by providing a common service experience that actualizes commitment to service, a core value of the University and meets the real needs of organizations and individuals in the local community.
Scenes and Soundbytes for 2009
Our own Kenny Ermann, Class of 2012, created a post-it note mural with reflections from student participants. Kenny conceived of, designed, and installed the mural in the Lower Commons.
Roger Williams University sponsored its 5th annual Community Connections program on Monday, August 24, 2009. Our entering class volunteered at non-profit agencies throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Student groups were led by student site leaders and faculty/staff site leaders including our very own university president, Dr. Roy J. Nirschel.
The response to the program was extremely positive, both internally and externally. Here are a few sound bytes from our community partners:
Peggy Deston Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc.
"On behalf of the Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc., I would like to tell you what a wonderful group of students you sent to work with us on Community Connections Day. They were polite, smiling, willing to help, hard workers, responsive, and thoroughly enjoyable. We gave them all a mark of A+!"
Diana Campbell, Mosaico
"Please extend our sincerest thanks to the students and their leaders who worked hard to clean up Mosiaco Park … The Park looks beautiful. With this cleanup Mosiaco CDC is a good step toward making the park a real statement for the neighborhood.
All your volunteers were terrific! They arrived smiling and ready to work- and work they did! The students spent several hours picking up trash, digging up dead bushes, pulling weeds, planting flowers, and even painting park benches at the park that is literally a cornerstone for the community. The students were courteous, hardworking, and enthusiastic, about doing a pretty dirty job. We could not have done it without them."
Lesley Muir, Norman Bird Sanctuary
"I continue to be impressed with the organization and energy that comes out of your office at RWU. .. On the day of service, the group was on time, ready to go. The staff members were friendly, energetic, and helpful. Their project involved taking down 150 bird boxes that are set on poles in our fields. They are disassembled and stored for the winter… "
Marguerite Hardisty, URI Master Gardeners
"Thank you for including the RI Veterans Home as one of your community service sites. The students that came to help spruce up some of the garden areas (that are seen by the many residents and staff members) were polite, conscientious, and very willing to carry out any task we had for them to make areas more pleasing for the residents of the home. …The students who worked with the Master Gardeners did these jobs with minimal guidance and did them well. As a team leader of the URI Master Gardeners at the Veterans Home, it would be my pleasure to work besides people from Roger Williams University at any time."
Stan Dimock ,Save the Bay
"Whether by chance or design (or maybe a little of each), the original Community Connections cleanup progressed flawlessly. Each new busload of students arrived just as the previous group had been dispatched to their cleanup location around the harbor. It was logistical perfection!.."
Garry Plunkett, Tiverton Open Space Commission
"We made it through our community connections day today. What a nice bunch of young adults that came here. The residents loved seeing them, and some of the students had a wonderful experience (conversing with residents, playing chess, and having a few laughs)."
Scenes and Soundbytes from 2008
Gayle Lawrence, Tiverton Open Space Commission
Sakonnet Times, September 11, 2008
"... RWU freshman students donned gloves and grabbed rakes, shovels, and loppers to clear brush, spread loam, and remove invasive plants and weeds from trailheads, paths, and an historic garden and cemetery."
" This work sponsored by the Community Connections Program of RWU demonstrates teh strong commitment the university has to getting its students involved in service projects in their local communities."
"They made a large contibuution to Tiverton by giving a few hours of their time. We are grateful for their effort and enthusiasm and we applaud [RWU] for this excellent program."
Catherine Corey, Audubon Society of RI
from a letter to President Roy Nirschel
"...representatives of your university did an outstanding job and were willing, eager and enthusiastic volunteers. Both teams worked on some much needed refuge beautification projects, and we can take pride in the appearance of our 28-acre refuge, because of volunteers, like your students..."
" We have enjoyed a long partnership with [RWU], and are imporessed with how your service learning program continues to evolve and respond to the ever changing needs of the Bristol Community."
Peggy Deston, Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc
A Thank you note
Dear Molly, Tabitha, Allison, Ashley, Nicole, Brittany, Margaux, Danielle, Meghan and Gabriel,
On behalf of everyone at the Little Theatre of Fall River, a very sincere thank you for spending your day of Community Service with us at The Firebarn! I enjoyed meeting each and every one of you and especially appreciated your enthusiasm and willingness to pitch in and get the job done. Every time I look at our beautiful RED exterior doors and the spruced up interior of our theater, I will think of all of you. I want you to know that you have made a difference with this one day of service and I encourage you to search for more opportunities as each of you can make a difference in this world. Thanks again.
The Community Connections mission:
The mission of this program is to continue the orientation process for new students by providing a common service experience that actualizes commitment to service, a core value of the University while meeting the real needs of organizations and individuals in the local community.
This program is jointly administered by the Division of Student Affairs and the Feinstein Center for Service learning and Community Engagement
Updated 09/10/2009