One of UHD’s many points of pride is GatorServe, in which the UHD community comes together twice a year for 9/11 and Martin Luther King Jr Day in service to others. These events have become so successful that the Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning is now launching miniServes.
On a smaller scale, these volunteer events will take place twice a semester in partnership with established UHD Community Partners. “We heard from our community that they wanted events like GatorServe but smaller and more frequent. So, we partnered with the Division of Student Success and Student Life to do just that,” said CCESL Associate Director Gabriel Durham.
“It is our hope that the miniServes can act as a bridge option for those who want to volunteer more and need some help getting started but aren’t interested in joining a student or Greek Life organization.”
UHD’s inaugural miniServe will be with the Pumpkin Patch & Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Nature Discovery Center, 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, Texas.
Volunteers will help with:
- Games and activity stations
- Event setup and breakdown
- Concessions
- Trash rotation and general upkeep to keep the park clean
- Check-in and ticket sales
- Additional duties as assigned during the event.
Multiple shifts are available throughout the day, so volunteers can take on a full day’s worth of activity from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. or just a couple hours in the morning or afternoon.
Students should register through campus groups to receive coordination messages and log their service time. All coordination for the event will be through the host organization so be sure to register as CCESL will not be present at the event.