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FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington students, faculty and staff kick-off the 2010 academic year with UMF’s third annual “Month of Service.” Developed to bring members of the campus and Farmington community together as they participate in volunteer activities for the public good, this year’s program will engage campus volunteers throughout the month of September at food pantries, churches, public service providers, nonprofit agencies and more.
Key findings reported in the 2009 National Survey for Student Engagement note that 68 percent of UMF students have participated in community service or volunteer work by their senior year. “UMF has a long history of preparing students for engaged citizenship,” said Theodora J. Kalikow, University of Maine at Farmington president. “Our students know from the moment they come to campus that they are members of a larger community and that interaction with this community extends their learning outside of the classroom, fosters individual leadership skills, and helps them prepare for lives of contribution.”
According to the Washington Monthly’s 2010 college rankings that rate higher education institutions based on their contribution to the public good, UMF receives some of the highest rankings among private and public baccalaureate colleges for the number of students participating in community service and the total number of service hours performed, relative to school size.
This year’s principle Month of Service activities, developed by the UMF Center for Student Involvement, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 11, 18 and 25. They will bring members of the UMF campus together with the community to care for abandoned horses at the Double B Equine Rescue Corporation, in Industry; to help cook and serve the monthly community lunch at Farmington’s Old South Church; to work at the Healthy Community Coalition’s Hope Harvest Community Garden and much more.
Kirsten Swan, UMF director for the Center for Student Involvement anticipates close to 200 UMF students will be involved in this year’s Month of Service activities.
New for this year’s Month of Service program is the collaborative campus and local community staffing of the Little Red Schoolhouse living history museum on the Farmington Fairgrounds from Sept. 19-25. In operation for 125 years, this schoolhouse closed in 1958 and was the last one-room, rural school in operation in Farmington. UMF students will help staff the living history museum, helping answer questions from members of the general public and providing them with an opportunity to learn about education in the 19th century.
