Community Service Day

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18,
at various nonprofit agencies around the state.

Introduction

Last year, more than 140 students, faculty and staff donated hundreds of volunteer hours to help area nonprofits, and college organizers are hoping for an even greater turnout this year.

The work options are many and include packaging and stocking foods; landscaping and yard work; painting and cleaning; and administrative and inventory cataloging. The morning shift is from 10 a.m. to noon and the afternoon shift is between 1 and 3 p.m. All volunteers will receive a box lunch at noon and a commemorative T-shirt. Those who cannot leave campus that day can participate in a letter-writing campaign for Rhode Island troops serving in Iraq. Materials will be available at each of our campuses.

CCRI President Ray Di Pasquale overwhelmingly supports the day of service and employees will not be required to take any personal or vacation time to volunteer for this community project. However, students will need to get the permission of their individual faculty instructors and faculty and staff must seek permission from department chairs or department managers. All volunteers are responsible for providing their own transportation to the work sites.

“Your participation will help organizations that make a profound difference in the lives of Rhode Islanders. Our goal is to demonstrate in a tangible way that CCRI cares for, and is a vital part of, its communities during a week when we ask them to join us in honoring what CCRI means to Rhode Island,” said President Di Pasquale.

Registration is now closed. The sites are as follows. For driving directions, click the link after each site name below to visit the agency’s Web site.

Operation Stand Down (Web site)
1010 Hartford Ave., Johnston

Founded in 1988 in 35 states, Operation Stand Down is a national coalition of concerned Americans who have dedicated themselves to eliminating homelessness among our nation’s veterans. In 1993, “Stand Down” (meaning “at ease”) Rhode Island initiated an annual three-day residential program to assist area homeless veterans to secure social, medical, legal and housing assistance. The group’s motto is “A hand up, not a handout,” and no homeless veteran is turned away. The group either provides emergency housing or pays for the veteran to live in a motel or boarding home. The agency established permanent housing for eight veterans in Johnston in 2001 and opened an additional home in West Warwick in 2005. Activities at this site on Community Service Day will include landscaping and other related duties.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center (Web site)
20 Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Blvd., Newport

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center was incorporated in 1922 as the Newport Community Center to provide educational, social and recreational activities for community residents. Over the past 82 years, this center has emerged as an agency that has provided a wide variety of human services, particularly to the low-income residents of Newport County. Activities at this site on Community Service Day will include cleaning and organizing at the center, packing groceries for pickup and outdoor cleanup.

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East Bay Community Action/Head Start (Web site)
8 John H. Chafee Blvd., Newport

The goal of East Bay Community Action’s Head Start is to enhance the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of low-income, at-risk children to prepare them for kindergarten. Services are provided at no cost to income-eligible families. More than 10 percent of enrolled children have a diagnosed disability. Volunteers at this site on Community Service Day will read to and participate in activities with children and perform outdoor work, such as getting the planters ready for spring.

The Homestead Group (Web site)
80 Fabien St. and 1 Cumberland St., Woonsocket, and 200 Industrial Drive, North Smithfield

Formerly known as The Arc of Northern Rhode Island, The Homestead Group is a nonprofit human service agency providing support and services for people with developmental disabilities. Formed more than 50 years ago by parents, today the group operates adult services, residential, independent living, and child and family service programs. Altogether, The Homestead Group services approximately 1,000 men, women and children. Activities at this site on Community Service Day will include interior painting projects, cataloging donations and working with clients.

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FRIENDS WAY (Web site)
765 West Shore Road, Warwick

FRIENDS WAY (Families Reaching Into Each New Day) facilitates peer support in a safe, nurturing environment by offering open-ended groups for children ages 3 to19 and their families after the death of a loved one. There is no fee for participation. The organization works closely with hospitals, schools, funeral homes, mental health agencies and individuals in serving children and families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Volunteer opportunities on this site on Community Service Day include indoor painting and yard work.

West Bay Community Action (Web site)
1351 Centerville Road, Warwick

Founded in 1966 as Warwick Community Action, the organization was established under President Lyndon Johnson's War-On-Poverty legislation enacted from 1964 to 1968. In the beginning, Westbay Community Action organized neighborhoods around local issues and needs and it created opportunities to meet those needs. Forty years later, Westbay is still community-based and continues to provide residents with opportunities to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency through education, life-skills training, job placement and case management by connecting them with programs and services. Volunteers at this site on Community Service Day will primarily work on the agency’s farm. However, in the event of inclement weather, volunteers will work in the agency’s food bank marketplace, 211 Buttonwoods Ave., Warwick.

Rhode Island Community Food Bank (Web site)
200 Niantic Ave., Providence

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank was founded in 1982 when a group of community organizers joined together to help offer food assistance to other Rhode Islanders in need, while lowering food waste. During that first year, the Food Bank distributed 350,000 pounds of food out of a rented warehouse on Allens Avenue in Providence. Now, at its site in Providence, the Food Bank has an annual distribution of approximately 8 million pounds of food. Work at this site on Community Service Day will include sorting and repackaging foods for distribution.

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