Students and faculty participated in various service projects including decorating lunch bags, tutoring students and initiating food drives during the inaugural Month of Service spearheaded by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement this January.
Gwen McNamara, Communications Coordinator of the Pace Center, said that the Center chose to hold the event in January as it is the month when the University honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with a formal commemorative event.
“January is a great time for reflection,” Kimberly de los Santos, Executive Director of the Pace Center, said.
“We’ve all had a busy fall and we’ll all be having a busy spring, so January is a great time to set aside to provide a lens for the upcoming year.”
During the Month of Service, Pace Center’s Community House organized multiple service projects for University students. These projects included helping students from low-income families close the academic achievement gap, initiating food drives to help fight hunger in the community, and hosting civic dialogues where students could come together and discuss the importance and meaning of service.
The Pace Center also released a Field Guide to Service online each week of the month, which offered students a way of learning about service opportunities and comprehending the meaning of service, de los Santos said. She added that Assistant Director of the Pace Center Charlotte Collins compiled these guides.
Collins deferred comment to McNamara.
In conjunction with the Pace Center, many student organizations participated in the Month of Service. These included the University's Academic Managers’ Group, which hosted a children’s book drive for Princeton Nursery School, and Forbes Residential College, which decorated paper bags to make cheerful lunches for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, according to McNamara.
Kevin Sallah GS, founder of Princeton Against Global Hunger, said the student organization hosted the Hunger and Homelessness Event with the Pace Center during the Month of Service.
“This event consisted of a food drive to benefit the Cornerstone Community Kitchen and discussions about the problem of hunger”, Sallah added.
Dean Rodan ’19, a food drive participant, said that he found the “service meaningful in a logical and spiritual manner and was glad to be able to help and assist others."
De los Santos said the Pace Center plans on expanding the Month of Service to create partnerships with other campus groups. She added that she hopes to engage more student organizations, such as athletic teams and eating clubs.
“We decided to develop a Month of Service at Princeton to raise awareness about service and civic engagement, provide opportunities for students, staff and faculty to engage, and inspire the campus community to get involved not just in January but hopefully the whole year through,” McNamara said.The Month of Service will conclude on Feb. 4 with a Community Matters Open House event in the Pace Center Lounge, where participants will share narratives of service.
This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the Pace Center, McNamara added.
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