Students Elissa Moody, Jorge Jimenez, and Christopher Landis work
with several student organizations to help their community.
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Making a Difference
CSU, Chico students roll up their sleeves to help with community
service projects
By Marion Harmon
When Christopher Landis was in high school, he became involved
in various leadership and service activities: he was junior and
senior class president, was involved in the Key Club (the world’s
largest high school service organization), became an Eagle Scout,
and was awarded the Optomist International Youth Appreciation Award.
“My first semester living in the residence halls, I didn’t
really get involved,” says Landis. “People wanted me
to, and I said no, I just need to focus on school—this is
college and it’s going to be hard.”
But during his second semester at California State University,
Chico, Landis was asked to be on the Lassen Hall council. “I
joined the board and helped out with Day on the Green and other
activities like pizza parties and movie night that offered residents
alternatives to going out to the party scenes,” he recalls. “I
realized that I was more productive and did better in school when
I had multiple tasks to do. And by really getting involved with
the community, it helps me to connect with and value where I’m
living.”
Now, as a senior studying business administration, Landis has a
full slate of service activities. As a junior he was assistant
program coordinator for University Housing and Food Service, developing
recreational programs for residents.
“I was the liaison between the different organizations for
events like Scour and Devour, so I’d go to their meetings,
and then promote those programs to the resident advisors, who would
feed
the information to the residents.”
Landis also got involved with Up ’til Dawn, a student-led
fund-raiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, first
as a paid assistant program coordinator and then as a volunteer.
Now in his third year with Up ’til Dawn, he is co-director.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” says Landis. “I’m
managing 40 other students and faculty advisors. It’s not
paid, so you have to have the heart to spend two to three hours
a night sitting in front of your computer sending out mass e-mails
to keep everyone informed while juggling four upper-division classes.”
The fund-raiser, hosted by more than 150 colleges and universities
nationwide, has become an increasingly successful program at CSU,
Chico, which raised more than $103,000 last year.
“We went up against huge universities and Ivy League schools
and became second in the nation,” says Landis. “Even
though the money we raised was small compared with the hospital’s
costs, if we saved one child’s life, that’s what keeps
us working hard.”
Landis’s experience may not be typical, but it’s far
from rare at CSU, Chico, which offers a variety of volunteer opportunities.
Along with Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE), a student-run
organization linking CSU, Chico students with volunteer work, there
are many student programs and organizations at CSU, Chico that
emphasize volunteering. “Most local community agencies have
a lot of student interns and volunteers—it’s amazing
how many are out there,” says Rick Rees, associate director
of Student Activities.
“It may not be as much about social change as in the 1960s
and ’70s,” adds
Rees, “but I think the ‘roll up the sleeves and work’ part
of volunteering and community service is stronger than it ever
was. I don’t think students expect to end global warming
tomorrow, but they certainly are willing to roll up their sleeves
and plant some trees.”
A turnaround for Greeks
Chico fraternities and sororities have recently stepped up community
service efforts, including teaming up with CAVE to bring more volunteer
activities to Greek members. During Greek Week in 2005, members
raised $35,000 in the Community Challenge, including $20,000 for
the Chico Boys & Girls Club; collected 472 pints of blood;
and donated 4,800 cans of food and 300 bags of clothing to the
Jesus Center in Chico.
Larry Bassow (BA, Organizational Communication, ’91), program
coordinator for Greek Life and advisor for Up ’til Dawn,
says he has seen a shift among the Greeks in the past couple of
decades. “When I was a Greek here 21 years ago, we didn’t
do anything along these lines,” he says. “There’s
a lot more happening on campus and within the Greek community in
regards to service and philanthropy. It’s a new foundation
for who we are as Greeks.”
The sororities this year became involved with Cinderella’s
Closet, a prom dress giveaway for local high schools. The event,
started by SERV, a Butte County teen organization, is funded by
the CSU, Chico chapter of the Student California Teachers Association,
which tried to hold the event annually but was having difficulty
finding enough dresses. Last spring they enlisted the help of the
Panhellenic Council to organize the event, and sorority women gathered
about 100 dresses and obtained prizes such as corsages and hair
appointments donated by local businesses.
“We got so much more than we expected,” says Elissa
Moody, vice president of philanthropy and community service for
the Panhellenic
Council. “We had jewelry, shoes, everything, and a lot of
the sorority sisters volunteered to help with dress selection and
makeup. One sister said, ‘When I saw that girl put on my
dress and saw how happy she was, my heart exploded with happiness!’ The
best part is that all the sisters want to do it again.”
This past year, Moody has also focused on bringing out smaller
acts of service. “I’m trying to provide a lot of opportunities
with small time commitments,” she says. An example is Adopt
a Block, which involves fraternity and sorority members walking
their neighborhoods on a Sunday morning and picking up trash. “We
are really moving toward becoming a better Greek system through
serving our community,” she says.
Why get involved?
So why do college students get involved in a community that they’ll
live in for only a few years? Reasons range from enhancing résumés
and career opportunities to just plain giving back to their community
and gaining a sense of pride and accomplishment. Student organizations
make it easier for individual students to get involved by organizing
the events and finding roles for each student.
“In doing Up ’til Dawn, we always look at the list
of student organizations that can get involved with our fund-raiser,” says
Landis. “It seems the list is always growing.”
In recent years, there has been a trend among student organizations
to combine community service efforts. Jorge Jimenez, a senior studying
business administration, volunteers with the Make-A-Wish Foundation
of America as a director on the Business Resource Center board
and a member of Gamma Zeta Alpha fraternity. The Business Resource
Center (BRC) began in 1998 as a learning community with the mission
of recruiting and retaining a diverse population of business students.
To achieve this, upper-division minority business students mentor
those just starting out, helping them succeed in their core classes.
Oscar Haro, a business student at the time and now director of
the BRC, says, “We thought that, one, it felt so good to
help other students maybe we could help in the community, and two,
we could show that business students are altruistic and aren’t
just here to get their degree and make a ton of money.”
The following spring, the BRC students organized their first Make-A-Wish
concert. The money raised by the now-annual event goes toward granting
the wishes of Northern California children with life-threatening
illnesses. The BRC has raised as much as $12,000 a concert in recent
years.
“Alone I couldn’t help much, but through our collective
efforts, we could make a difference for at least one child,” says
Haro.
Bridget Walsh, regional development manager for Make-A-Wish, worked
with CSU, Chico students for two years. “They were just fantastic,” she
says. “A lot of them are working very hard to complete their
college education and supporting themselves, and on top of that
they choose to be part of the BRC program and host this concert,
which requires a lot of extra time on their behalf. They were the
most friendly, outgoing, generous people, and it was truly amazing
to see them in action.”
Jimenez says that along with having the satisfaction of knowing
that he has helped kids through Make-A-Wish, he has learned that
he has the ability to do a lot of things. “I was quiet,” he
says. “I’m more outgoing now and speak up for myself.
My leadership skills have increased.”
Jimenez now also gives back to the community where he grew up,
Hamilton City, by encouraging high school students there to go
to college and helping them with their financial aid paperwork. “Most
of us need a little push,” he says. “It’s good
to give back, and I know I’ll be helping out even after I
graduate from college.”
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