Outreach...can you find it?

I have been interested and have completed several community service projects over the years and my passion for it has only grown. When looking at universities to attend after my high school graduation i was mainly looking at location and how much each school cost for a year. Wouldn't it have been fun if I looked at the university's community outreach program's that would not only enrich my life but my resume as well. Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio is a campus rich in community programs. They currently have 20 blog posts all about the community programs that are sponsored and performed through the university. They have a "Case for Community Day" where they challenge every student to participate and give back to the community. Things can be as simple as a food or clothing drive, volunteering at a local school, spending time with the elderly or an infinite amount of possibilities. The challenge I have for you is to go out and find an outreach program through your school or another school that does work in the area that you live in. It is important to recognize the impact that you can have on people by just doing something small. Every university should have a program and it is up to the student's to find out and participate and make their community a better place. But for the purpose of the class that I'm currently writing this blog for I will only focus on colleges/universities in the Baltimore metro area.

Cherry Hill Learning Zone Initiative (CHLZI)

In high school I was required to complete so many hours of community service before I would be eligible to graduate. Community service is an important part of life that shouldn't feel like a requirement and should be done throughout life not just in high school. Universities around the Baltimore area are continuing in the effort to better the community around them. At Towson University there has been an outreach into Baltimore City to help those in need. The Cherry Hill Learning Zone Initiative (CHLZI) is a prosperous partnership that Towson has with Baltimore City Public School, the Baltimore City government and several grassroots organizations in the Cherry Hill area. The College of Education, headed by Dean Raymond P. Lorion, is leading the way in impacting the community.

The Examiner article Cherry Hill Learning Zone Initiative in for ‘long haul’ provides a short description of the education side of the partnership and the progress that has been made and what is yet to come. Towson has many of its interns working down in the city schools in the area. And to top that off, according to Susan Turnbaugh, executive administrative assistant to Dean Lorion, Towson has sent over 125 computers to local schools and one church in the Cherry Hill area and they are in the process of donating five 32" televisions. This is a great example of a university reaching out and helping an area community.