Students had an opportunity to connect with volunteer opportunities at a Volunteer Fair on Sept. 8.
On Monday, UNA’s Center for Student Engagement hosted a two-hour Volunteer Fair at the GUC Atrium. Students were encouraged to attend, network and sign up for possible volunteer opportunities.
Matthew Jones, Director of Student Activities for CSE said, “Something like this for the student body means opportunities as well as exposure. Something I like to emphasize with this type of event is that these are non-UNA vendors, other than one RSO. So this is just that expression that there are more service opportunities outside of UNA.”
Jones also shared ways that Student Engagement gets companies to join the Volunteer Fair.
“We really rely on the years prior to get repeat vendors to come back out. We also work with different vendors and different local partners and communities to help advertise at meetings and they kind of market for us there,” he said.
At the event, there were about 16 vendors and companies. Ranging from Big Brothers, Big Sisters, All Saints College Ministry, the Chadwick Foundation and others.
Susan Coke from Alabama Hospice of the Shoals at the event said, “We take care of patients who typically have six months or less to live. So we always need volunteers to go into homes and basically be a companion with our patients.”
“Our goal is to preserve land through education and conservation in North Alabama,” said Will Wiggins, a representative from Land Trust of North Alabama.
Wiggins also shared that volunteers would help out with kiosks, trail care and ensuring hikers have everything they need for the trail.
The Helen Keller Festival was also at the event. The Helen Keller Festival takes place the last weekend of June and celebrates the life and accomplishments of Helen Keller.
At the event, Ashley Burnell with Helen Keller festival said, “Volunteers would help with a variety of things. Anything from set up to takedown, being a liaison for the vendors and we have a lot of room for social media help like graphic design, TikToks and stuff like that.”
