Many UVA students enjoy giving back to the Charlottesville community through volunteer work with local organizations and service groups! Here are some of the opportunities that the student interns have taken part in over the past few years.
Abby
Sometimes at UVa, you are given the opportunity to volunteer for a class! I took Teaching as a Profession in the Curry School and went into Charlottesville High School every week to tutor geometry students. It was a really cool way to get hands-on experience in the course while being able to volunteer.
Leah
When I arrived on grounds, I knew that I wanted to find a local church community. Charlottesville has hundreds of churches in the area, many of them with vibrant student fellowship and volunteer opportunities. Through Christ Episcopal Church, I was able to volunteer to usher for the Sunday service. This helped me get more involved in my church community, meeting other UVA students as well as adults in the Charlottesville community! In college, you’re constantly around 18 to 22 year olds, so it’s nice to expose yourself to another age group of people and help out while you’re at it.
You-Jin
Ever since first year, I have been so lucky to be part of Madison House’s CASH (Creating Assets, Savings & Hope) organization. It is known to be a very competitive volunteer organization to be admitted into, but once you get in, it is well worth your time. We provide free tax preparation services to low-income families and individuals in the Charlottesville community. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to interact with various types of people and to feel truly connected with my community. Each volunteer gets tax law and tax preparation training so that volunteers are able to take an IRS-mandated certification exam and become IRS-certified as Volunteer Income Tax Assistants. This definitely has helped me feel comfortable in making my own tax filing as I will continue to have to do so for the rest of my life.
Mia
My second year I was able to volunteer in the Cavs in the Classroom through Madison House. Cavs in the Classroom is a way for students to become more involved in the Charlottesville community by volunteering in local elementary schools. Every Monday I got to drive to Johnson Elementary School and sit in a first grade classroom for an hour and help little kids learn how to read. It was not only super fun to get to hangout with adorable 7 year olds but it was also a really great way to break out of the UVA bubble and expose myself to new things. The kids were such a joy, so curious, and loved to learn. Cavs in the Classroom was definitely a highlight of my week. To learn more about all the programs that Madison House offers, follow this link: https://www.madisonhouse.org/list-of-programs.
Kelley
I remember when I came on a tour of UVA, my tour guide mentioned that he volunteered with a Madison House program called Latinx and Migrant Aid (LAMA). I signed up for the program as soon as I got to Grounds, and have volunteered with them every semester since. I have had the opportunity to meet different students at their homes, in churches, and during the school day for tutoring. It’s been an incredible way to connect with members of the Charlottesville community— like others have mentioned, I’ve loved getting to escape the 18-22 year old bubble for a little while and hang out with some cool kids. Now, in my third year, I work as a Program Director, overseeing my own volunteers and site!
Ben
Another great opportunity to get involved with service while studying at UVA is Alternative Spring Break (ASB). In the fall, ASB partners with local Charlottesville organizations, such as the Rivanna Trail Foundation and The Haven, for a weekend of service. Students can sign up to volunteer with these groups over the 4-day fall break, which usually occurs in early October. I volunteered at a local build site for Habitat for Humanity my first year, as well as Bellair Farm, which is a local cooperative farm that focuses on community-supported agriculture. Participating in Alternative Fall Break was a great way to learn more about local volunteer opportunities in the Charlottesville community and escape the "UVA Bubble!" My second semester of first year, I volunteered on a spring break trip, which is the main focus of ASB. You can apply for a number of trips in one of three areas - environmental, human services, or housing. To see a full list of trips from past years, check out their website: https://www.altbreak.org/. I was lucky enough to go to Point Reyes, California, where we helped a team of park rangers make a beach hiking trail handicap accessible by building a drainage system in a flooded section of the path, in addition to clearing trees and fallen debris on other trails. This was a fantastic experience which taught me a lot about the National Park Service as well as the environment and climate change. We spent our free time hiking, cooking food over the campfire, and watching elephant seals, and I was able to fund much of my trip through the research grants and need-based scholarships offered by ASB! Overall, ASB was a wonderful opportunity to learn about outdoors-based service in our National Parks while also bonding with a group of 10-12 fellow students through the adventures of camping and flying across the country together!
As you can hopefully tell after reading our stories, there are so many volunteer opportunities at UVA, ranging from artistic groups to Madison House programs. To see a full list of public service organizations at UVA, follow this link: https://atuva.student.virginia.edu/organizations and set the search category to “public service.” There’s bound to be a service opportunity that matches your interests!
