Students serve community during Day of Caring

The Center for Community Engagement's annual Day of Caring, in partnership with United Way, mobilized more than 100 volunteers on Oct. 12 to complete community service projects across Windham. Activities ranged from cleaning up to raking leaves and painting posts.

Approximately 120 students participated, volunteering at 15 sites throughout the day. Sites and community partners included Grow Windham Community Garden, Commercially Licensed Cooperative Kitchen (CLiCK), the Railroad Museum, White Water Park, the Mill Museum, Abundant Life Church, Willimantic Public Art, Eastern's thrift shop and others.

Lana O'Connor, director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), described the variety of activities performed, which depended on the site. "Whatever the community partner needs, we provide the volunteers," O'Connor said. Lexie Mastroianni, community engagement coordinator and the event's main organizer, said volunteers worked on gardening projects, repainting and cleaning up leaves to beautify the community.

At the Mill Museum, student leader Giavanna Marmo oversaw a project called Peace Pole, which features the phrase "May Peace be with you" in various languages. Marmo highlighted the importance of supporting sites with fewer volunteers. "It's nice to offer your help and time," Marmo said. "They are very grateful to have the help."

Volunteers also had the chance to learn from the sites they assisted. At the Railroad Museum, student leader Cecilia Meléndez said, "We painted, went into the trains, learned how everything worked and had so much fun."

Student leader Allison Kazmier emphasized the importance of cleaning projects to make the sites more presentable. "I like to give back to the community," Kazmier said. "It's for the betterment and beautification of the town we live in."