Volunteer Opportunities at UVA

Interested in learning about public service opportunities at UVA, but don't know where to start? Then this is the blog post for you! Read on to learn about some of the summer interns' favorite volunteer activities in the greater Charlottesville area.

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. 

The Holiday Sharing program at Madison House.

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.

The Madison House building, a central hub for many volunteer programs.

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!

Pancakes for Parkinson's, an impactful service organization at UVA.

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! 

Working as a team to move a fallen tree on an ASB trip in Point Reyes National Seashore.

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! 

UVA Lawn Traditions

Convocation:

You enter your First Year here just as Mr. Jefferson, or as I like to call him, TJ, would have wanted. Sitting on the lawn, facing the North with our beautiful Rotunda in the background. This event is magical for many reasons. You are sitting with all of your peers in Class of 20something, you’re all in the same position, and you will be with them for the next four years. Looking around you’ll feel the excitement in the air, and see everyone dressed up and waiting for the ceremony to begin. The speakers aren’t the exciting part, with the exception of the speech from the Sevens. Just be in the moment and appreciate that this is the only time you will be with all these people in the same place until graduation!

Rotunda Sing:

I love Rotunda Sing- it’s such a fun afternoon on the Lawn. Basically, Rotunda Sing is an acapella concert right in front of the Rotunda. It takes place at the beginning of the school year, so it’s nice and warm out. There are lots of beautiful lights projected onto the Rotunda steps and it’s just a really chill night. This is also when the acapella groups advertise their audition times—so if you’re interested in joining a singing group, be sure to check it out!

Streaking the Lawn:

Streaking the Lawn is something that most students participate in, and all are encouraged to do before graduation. It is what it sounds like, you streak the Lawn! Here is a step-by-step run through: go to the Rotunda steps at night, remove clothing, run down steps and lawn, run around the Homer statue 3 times, kiss his bottom, sprint back up the Lawn to the Rotunda, walk up the steps and whisper “Goodnight, Mr. Jefferson” into the keyhole on the door, put clothes back on. It’s fun and liberating! 10/10 would recommend doing it.

Pancakes for Parkinson’s:

Pancakes for Parkinson’s is an event that was created 14 years ago at UVA as a fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation to benefit Parkinson’s research. It’s a really fun event with lots of delicious pancakes made by the volunteers. I volunteered last year and donated to support my grandfather who has Parkinson’s Disease. It was a really great way to get involved quickly and to support a cause that is in desperate need of more funding for research. The event is also really enjoyable and for all ages, so it does a great job of bringing UVA and the Charlottesville community together.  

(here's me flipping some pancakes! Vid credit to Catherine Cura)

Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn:

My favorite childhood tradition had always been dressing up in a fun costume and trick-or-treating around my neighborhood with my brother. At UVA we host a similar event on the Lawn where the Charlottesville community comes together with the UVA students to celebrate Halloween. At 7pm on the Friday on/before Halloween, the children in Charlottesville gather on the Lawn and make a line to trick-or-treat at all of the Lawn rooms. Many students dress up even if they aren't a Lawnie to hand out candy! It's efficient, it's adorable, and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

Lighting of the Lawn:

Lighting of the Lawn, or LOTL, is the most beautiful event UVA has to offer. It began in the wake of the September 11th attacks when everyone in America and at UVA were unsure of their place in the world. LOTL was created to bring together UVA and the Charlottesville community, in order to support each other and celebrate our bond. LOTL occurs in early December on the Thursday before exams begin. Lights are strung all along the Lawn Rooms, Pavilions, and the Rotunda beforehand, and don't turn on until 10pm. Before the lighting, there's an acapella concert, a countdown, and ~boom~ the lights are on. The lights are synced to the Top 50 hits and thousands of students party together until we tire ourselves out. It's such a wonderful and meaningful event that no student should miss. 

Snowball Fights:

As per tradition: when it snows a lot, people break out into snowball fights. On the midnight of a snowstorm at UVA, students run to the Lawn to partake in the largest snowball fight you'll ever see. It's overwhelming and awesome to see the snow whizzing through the air while hearing the laughs and battlecries of your peers. Though it doesn't happen every year due to Virginia's climate, when it happens it's incredible. Don't miss out like I did because you don't believe that the entire student body would show up to the Lawn at midnight, because you'll miss out in a ton of fun.

Spring Fest:

Spring Fest is a really chill event that UPC puts on in April. Basically it's an event on the Lawn with live music, food trucks, free stuff, and lots of great people. This past year we had student bands play as well as my favorite, Misterwives! They put on a great performance and the best part is that it was free! It's also so gorgeous in Virginia this time of year, so laying on the Lawn is the best thing you can do to enjoy your afternoon on a lovely Spring day.

Graduation:

Graduation is an event that, thankfully, I won't partake in for two more years. Graduation for your class happens, traditionally, on the Lawn just as Thomas Jefferson (TJ) would have wanted it. During Convocation we face the Rotunda, as we are facing our education. At Graduation we face Old Cabell Hall which is blocking the Blue Ridge Mountains. We face the mountains because that represents our life after college and was really symbolic and important to Jefferson. Another fun thing that we do is carry really fun balloons with us as we walk.