McKenna Koon NMC302 Feb.

8, 2011

Help Others, Help Yourself

Its a Win-Win for All at the Non-Profit and Volunteering Expo

Walking into the Memorial Union Ballroom, crowds of people fill the giant space like freshman girls vying for spots in a sorority during Rush week. But instead of Rush week this is the Non-Profit and Volunteering Expo with dozens of students huddling around various booths eager to become involved with issues bigger than themselves. Hosted by Career Services, the Non-Profit and Volunteering Expo has been helping students connect with organizations for five years, giving them the opportunity to learn about nonprofit organizations and to meet their representatives. The expo also helps to keep up a good presence and remind students about opportunities, said Jill Kuenne, the Volunteer and Internship Coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis. After expos like this, volunteer applications definitely go up. The 2011 expo took place Jan. 20, allowing students to drop in from 1 to 4 p.m. Ardy Clark, the event coordinator and Assistant Director for Career Services, has helped organize the event since its beginning. Volunteering and working with non-profits is the best way (for students) to learn about the world, themselves, and also to really get good experience, Clark said, and in return, students bring a new energy to the organizations, so its a win-win. It was obvious from standing amidst the crowd of about 350 bustling students that energy is not in short supply. And with 53 booths, non-profit organizations are not either. In fact, Benton County, in which Corvallis sits, contains 300 nonprofits. Nonprofit organizations are those in which a group organizes to benefit and generate profits for reasons other than gaining income for its members, directors, or officers according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University. These kinds of organizations include churches, public charities, public clinics and hospitals, research institutes, legal aid societies, and volunteer service organizations. Volunteer service organizations were the highlight of the expo, and participating nonprofits covered a broad spectrum of causes. Included were Peace Corps, Teach for America, Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis, OSU Community Service Center, Corvallis Environmental Center, Girl Scouts, American Red Cross, Greenbelt Land Trust, and Linn Country General Services, among others.

Because of events like this, we have really been able to expand our services, said Miranda Justus, an Internship Coordinator for Linn County General Services. Getting involved in your community really helps your resume too. In addition to managing many of the countys buildings, Linn County General Services provides volunteer and internship opportunities to students interested in helping maintain those buildings. This can range from helping clean gutters to interior designing. It was really cool for me to learn about volunteer opportunities like this where I can use my design skills to help make community buildings look better, said Tresa Palmer, a junior in Merchandising Management. I thought all I could do to help was clean up garbage or work in soup kitchens, but now that I know about these kinds of places, I can actually use what Im learning in school. OSU hosts Career Fairs twice a year, but Career Services highlights the importance of an event dedicated to non-profits and volunteering opportunities. While a handful of nonprofits and volunteer services pay the $50 to have a booth at the fairs, other booths offering potential jobs often overshadow them. Having something exclusively for non-profits really helps to show how important and helpful the organizations can be for students, said Anne Lapour, Career Development Coordinator for Career Services. Volunteering is an amazing opportunity that provides transferrable skills, and if a student is interested in working for non-profits in the future, then volunteering is absolutely necessary. While this event has come and gone, students can still attend the next university-wide Career Fair taking place Feb.23, and visit booths like Peace Corps and Teach for America. Im definitely going to go to the Career Fair too, but because I love to volunteer Nikki Honarkar, a junior in Business said, I doubt it can even compare with these kinds of organizations, not to mention how good volunteering will look on my resume. For those interested in attending the university-wide career fair on Feb.23, it will be at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on SW 26th Street. The fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, Career Services is located in the Kerr Administration Building, or call (541)737-4085.