Thursday night at the Spa was a memorable one. A variety of clubs dedicated to improving the local and broader community were represented at Skidservice Celebration on March 5, 2015. This event was sponsored by the Office of Community Service programs and NRHH, the National Residence Hall Honorary. Free pizza was served and tickets were handed out to all purveyors for entrance into a Chipotle raffle. Live performances by some of Skidmore’s best talent, including the Accents, the Stomping Soles, Rithmos, Ujima, AKT, and the Gospel Choir entertained a crowd curious about what community outreach opportunities our campus has to offer.
Julia Diamond ‘15, a sociology major, was at the event to share information about Fight Club. Fight Club is a campus mediation service provided by students trained in conflict resolution strategies. They offer a safe and confidential space for their fellow peers who are going through difficulties in their interpersonal relationships and would like to come to a resolution. Said Diamond, “I just love watching people work through things logically and knowing that I helped them do that.”
Students participating in one of this year’s Alternative Spring Break programs called Safe Passage were present at the Celebration to fundraise for their service trip to Guatemala, as well as to recruit any individuals interested in participating in the future. In March of 2015, a handful of volunteers will be journeying to this South American country to mentor 4th and 7th grade Guatemalan children through an afterschool program. They have been meeting regularly throughout the spring semester in preparation for their trip; during these meetings, the volunteers have been planning lesson plans for the children. Jessa Henschel ‘17, a psychology major, shared her excitement about being able to reach out. Said Henschel, “We’re going to be doing team building activities, leadership activities, and teaching some of our own skills to the kids.” They are still fundraising for the trip and have a place online for supporters to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/Skidmoreinguatemala
Club members from Skidmore’s branch of UNICEF were promoting an iPhone app called the UNICEF Tap Project. This app tracks how much you play with your phone, and donates a day’s worth of clean water to deprived areas for every fifteen minutes you don’t touch your device. Jamie Scherzer ‘17, studio art and business double major, vice president of UNICEF, spoke about how much of a difference a little more clean water can make in some places. Scherzer explained, “Water-borne diseases are a huge problem. Sometimes all people have access to is really dirty water and they get ill from it. Also, governments in some countries that have water crises are making water a private utility, and so they’re putting even more restrictions on the access to local clean water.” To learn more about the Tap Project and to download the app, visit http://www.unicefusa.org/mission/survival/water/tap-project.
Jingling Zhang ‘17, a psychology and business double major, is a member of NRHH who was at the Celebration. Zhang said, “I think Skidmore has a lot of community service clubs, and some of them I had never known before. I definitely checked out some new clubs tonight.”
Other clubs that were represented at the Skidservice Celebration were Saratoga Mentoring, Big Brothers Big Sister, Feel Good, Benef-Action, Her Campus, Active Minds, Newman Club, and Feedmore.