Jenna Crowe
Staff Writer
College students inherently have busy schedules, but it shouldn’t be hard for them to volunteer with all of the opportunities available on and off campus.
One opportunity is volunteering at the Bannock House; one of four locations of the Bannock Youth Foundation.
This house offers counseling services, housing and more to children ages 10-18, male or female, that are in the custody of the state of Idaho.
Other locations include MLK Place, which provides substance abuse rehabilitation; Family Resources Center, which offers nurturing programs and family counseling.
The last location is Square One, which offers an independent living program for people age 15-21 who are either still in state custody or recently removed from it.
In addition, many volunteer opportunities can be found in the LEAD Center, which is located on the third floor of the Student Union Building.
Brooke Barber, the director of LEAD Center, helps promote service opportunities throughout the year.
Many of these can be found through Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society as well as Service Corps.
Omicron Delta Kappa is an honors society that is available to juniors and seniors that are in the top third of their class.
“This gives students a chance to network on a national level,” Barber said.
As a member of this society, students also have many volunteer opportunities at their disposal.
Students have the opportunity to work with various local, nonprofit and action agencies, including Habitat for Humanity, Neighbor Works and Aid for Friends.
“With Habitat for Humanity, we helped with painting and construction,” Barber said. “Aid for Friends is a local homeless shelter that we provide office help for.”
Students belonging to Omicron Delta Kappa, as well as other students, are given a chance to participate in the MLK Day of Service, where students from ISU take on three to four projects within the community.
“Our goal is to support as many people as possible,” Barber said.
Although none of these organizations have events coming up in the near future, students can still volunteer with Service Corps.
Service Corps was formed at ISU two years ago and has since participated in a variety of service projects such as Red Cross blood drives, the MLK Day of Service and city cleanup initiatives.
“Any ISU student can join or help, and there are service projects once a month,” Barber said.
For the month of September, Service Corps assisted with the ISU Ambush, a 5k mud and obstacle team challenge.
Other projects include the Homeless Stand Down, a blood drive and the Angel Tree Project.
The Homeless Stand Down is an event that has been active for about four years and is led by the Veteran Student Service Center located in the SUB.
According to its Facebook page, the event will be held October 29 from 8 a.m. until noon.
The next two meetings are September 21 and October 5, both lasting from 5:30 to 7 p.m and open to all interested.
This event was started to bring awareness to the growing homelessness issue and assist those who have found themselves homeless.
For more information, feel free to visit its Facebook page, Southeast Idaho Homeless Stand Down, or contact Director Todd Johnson at ude.usinull@ddotnhoj.
The first blood drive for the school year will be November 8 and 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Rendezvous suites.
Students are encouraged to donate if they can.
The Angel Tree Project, held in December, is similar to the giving trees that are sometimes seen in local stores.
This is a Christmas gift drive for children of ISU students.
Students will fill out their child’s basic information, such as age and gender, and hang the card back onto the tree.
Other students will then have the opportunity to take a card and replace with a gift for that child.
There are a variety of opportunities for students to make an impact in the community. The hardest part may be simply deciding where to help.
