Dedicated to increasing service at Manchester College, OVS encourages community volunteerism as an important part of the college experience. Some of the OVS duties include documenting hours of service completed by MC students, faculty, and staff; planning service projects, events, and opportunities; recruiting students to help with local service projects and organizations; and keeping in touch with outside local agencies.

New Opportunities!!

The OVS has always had a listing online of available volunteer and service learning opportunities, but thanks to some hard work and organizing, it has now been updated with some new information! This information includes some new sites that hold multiple opportunities, as well specifics of each opportunity (such as how many hours would be asked of the volunteering student, what medical precautions if any need to be taken, and what exactly the task at hand requires of the students). Most of the listed opportunities are year round and on-going and include both on campus and off campus availabilities.

The goal of our new and improved page is to have a better outlet for students who are interested in volunteering within their community. With the details involved, students will find it easier to make decisions as to whether or not a site is acceptable for them, and then act upon that decision with the contact information provided. Also, some of the newer opportunities are group oriented, aimed at appealing to student groups to get involved in volunteer and service learning opportunities.

For more information, please visit our opportunities page, or e-mail jjhickerson@spartans.manchester.edu

Trayless Option: Another Green Campus Initiative

For those returning students, you may have noticed that starting this fall semester,

we have started implementing the trayless option as part of the Green Initiative on campus. This was decided upon to attempt to cut down on the amount of waste produced by students on themeal plan over-stocking on food because of the freedom of space on the trays, then discarding the uneaten food. All excess food products are collected in two binson either side of the dish conveyor, serving as a gauge for the amount of waste saved and produced. In the two months the program has been in place, Chartwells reports a significant decrease in the amount of waste produced by students. Within the student body, a reported 75% or 1 in 4 are choosing to eat their food without a tray, according to Chartwells statistics.

Although trays are still available for those who wish to use them, Director of Food Services, Chris Yeadon, says that the amount of food being taken is still decreasing. "You can see it. Even the people that grab trays when they walk in clearly have less on them." The program benefits the community, since we, the Office of volunteer Services, take the difference in funding for waste prevention and use it to provide food and services to the outlying areas that are in need.

Join us on Facebook!

Join the OVS Facebook group for easy updates that are connected to your every day Facebook and networking needs!

Up Coming Events:

Check out our Discovering the Community Page for our monthly events in this category!

Hunger and Homelessness Week

• November 14 - 21, 2009
• Check out the On Campus Opportunities for more information about the week that benefits people in our community as well as the outlying community by way or donated food and items.

"Share a Meal" through Chartwells for "Hunger and Homelessness Week"

• Lunch, Monday, November 16 - Lunch, Friday, November 20
• When stopping in the Union for breakfast, lunch or dinner, grab a "Share a Meal" card and sign up to either donate a meal you know you're going to miss, or one you just want to sacrifice that will be donated through Chartwells to the community by ways of turkey baskets for the needy. Donating flex dollars from your personal account is also available. Look for OVS staff members at lunch on Monday, November 16.