Annual service event encourages community volunteerism
Across Pirate Nation, alumni are gearing up to serve their communities as part of the second annual ECU Alumni Days of Service hosted by the East Carolina University Alumni Association (ECUAA).
“This giving opportunity has a far-reaching impact, with Pirate alumni across the country coming together to serve,” said Amanda Murer, associate vice chancellor for alumni relations. “It is a point of pride that we are living our motto — Servire.”
In its inaugural year, more than 350 participants took part in 25 projects across the country and had an estimated economic impact over $19,000 based on the rate of a volunteer hour.
For the second year, ECUAA has organized or connected to service projects on campus and in the community from the Outer Banks to California. Locally, volunteers can fight hunger by working at JOY Soup Kitchen, support patients at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge or pack food boxes at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC.
Two projects that directly impact students include an online canned food drive and donations to a professional clothing closet. Restocking the Williams-Ross Purple Pantry, which helps students who face food insecurity, will fill the pantry’s list of needed items. Gently used professional clothing can be donated to the Professionally Purple Closet, a resource that provides interview and professional attire to students.
Murer said Days of Service is a good fit for ECUAA because alumni often volunteer for community service projects on their own “given that service is part of our DNA.”
ECU Alumni Association staff Meghan Woolard and Kylee Corbett volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House during the East Carolina University Alumni Association’s annual Days of Service last year. (Contributed photo)
“Offering a service project that is also an alumni event provides a new and exciting engagement outlet,” Murer said. “It is not unusual for a Days of Service project to be the first alumni event someone has attended. Some people prefer to do something meaningful rather than a purely social activity, and giving back is familiar and a way to engage.”
Murer said some members of the ECUAA board are leading projects for regional alumni chapters or helped identify organizations to ensure the initiative was inclusive of all communities in need. The ECUAA board also is participating in a project prior to its spring meeting as a group activity.
Regional alumni chapters throughout the state and beyond have organized projects for their communities. Projects include everything from working in an urban garden and staffing water stations for a marathon to volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Visit Days of Service with ECUAA to learn more about chapter projects.