UMaine ‘Care A-Fair’ to Celebrate Student Outreach, Volunteerism
Contact: Nory Jones, 581-1971; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — A group of UMaine students and faculty or staff advisors is expecting as many as 1,000-2,000 people will attend a special event, “Care A-Fair, a Celebration of Student Giving,” on April 25, to celebrate relationships between the university student volunteers and the charitable organizations they serve.
From 8 p.m. to midnight, in the North Pod of the Marketplace in the Memorial Union, organizers will have live music, dancing, food and an indoor county fair atmosphere, all designed to create a cheerful social environment for students and mentors to network and mingle casually.
More than 20 organizations have been invited to send representatives. According to the Division of Student Affairs, UMaine has almost 100 student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, whose members do service or volunteer work for dozens of community entities.
The free event will be the first time all student volunteers and their charity mentors are being invited to a common event, according to Nory Jones, associate business professor and director of graduate programs in the Maine Business School.
The point of Care A-Fair, says Jones, who came up with the idea with Gustavo Burkett, director of campus activities and events, is to create “an event that brings together and showcases the many wonderful organizations that help the greater Bangor community, as well as the many students and student groups who help those organizations. This is a great opportunity to create awareness about the organizations that make a difference in our community and to say thank you to them and to our students who care.”
Many of the volunteer efforts by students often go unnoticed, adds student Brenton Murray, who is helping a student committee with the planning. In addition, many worthwhile organizations also may be underappreciated by the public, he says. The event also is expected to raise awareness about volunteerism and also allow student volunteers to socialize with the people who administer the charitable agencies and organizations.
Care A-Fair will provide organizations an opportunity to set up display tables to promote and explain their work.
Jones says she was inspired to propose the celebration of volunteerism by President Barack Obama’s community organizing background and emphasis on giving back to the community. Organizations served by students range from local scouting organizations, to healthcare, animal welfare, food pantries and emergency services.
For additional information, Jones can be contacted at 207-581-1971 or by email (njones@maine.edu).