justice

One of our slogans is, “A hole in your house is a hole in your pocket.” We find that “hole” using science and data, and offer services that will fix it that will have a payback time (based on your monthly bills) of less than 5 years. Yes, this helps your pocket, but you are making an impact on the global front as well.

The way we consume energy in our homes today, there is no way our power plants can keep up. If we are able to live in more sustainable homes, and be more conscious about the habits we have in the home, we will be making a huge impact. This way of living is mostly about having knowledge and being conscious about our habits and life practices. We have reading material, handouts, and information on our website that describe different ways to be more knowledgeable and more energy-conscious.

NLCF Contact: Joe Mugavero

Contact Info: energycheck@wecheckenergy.com; 540-443-9966

This is a service-learning exchange program between Tec de Monterrey (Mexico) and Virginia Tech that focuses on fostering community leadership and social development. It occurs annually during summer session 1. VT students may apply to spend 5 weeks of summer working alongside Mexican students on community projects. Examples of projects include a summer camp educational opportunity for children from marginalized communities and English as a Second Language courses for adults. There is also an opportunity to take Spanish courses at Tec de Monterrey and transfer credits back to VT.

Specific Needs:

• The Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships is currently accepting applications for the summer of 2009. Basic Spanish proficiency is required.
• We are also looking for VT students who will be in Blacksburg for the summer to be a part of this end of the Global Citizen Partnership exchange. VT will host a group of Tec de Monterrey students during summer session 1 who will be doing community work with African refugee children living in Roanoke. Our goal is to provide each Mexican student with an American partner for the course of their service work.

NLCF Contact: Amanda Davis

Contact Info: Amanda Davis (amdavis1@vt.edu; 804-334-7812). I would love to answer any of your questions/provide you with more information! I participated in this program during the summer of 2006 and am the coordinator for this summer.
Learn more.

Our central mission is to coordinate and strengthen partnerships between the university and the community, enhance service and experiential learning activities, and develop faculty and partner capacity for engagement. Basically, the Center is a “clearinghouse” resource for students interested in giving back to the community. Any student or group of students with any interest can contact us and we will help facilitate getting you plugged into a service experience. We have strong partnerships with many non-profits and other organizations in the NRV.

We also have additional resources available to you if you are already doing service work and need support. We offer grants of $250-$1000 for student proposals related to social justice/social entrepreneurship projects (Sher Vogel, an NLCF’er, has received one of these grants for her work in South Africa!). We also have a “Hokie Hands Trailer” with all sorts of yard and construction tools, equipment, and other resources that may be borrowed and used free of charge by students doing service projects.

NLCF Contact: Amanda Davis

Contact Info: Amanda Davis (amdavis1@vt.edu; 804-334-7812). I would love to answer any of your questions/provide you with more information!
Visit our website.

The Sustainable Food Corps is working to promote economic development within our community by engaging Virginia Tech Dining Services with regional farmers and distributors, and to support a resilient, sustainable, locally-owned food system which provides improved citizen access to local and regional food.

Specific Needs: Volunteers who can dedicate at least 5 hours/week working with VT’s Dining’s sustainability coordinator to pursue the goals of the Sustainable Food Corps; volunteers with a passion for food justice, sustainable food systems, food security and community development; help brainstorming new initiatives.

Contact Info: Co-Director Andy Sarjahani (540-231-1139; asarjah@vt.edu)
Co-Director Grace Hood (sahoodvt@gmail.com)

New River Community Action (NRCA) has been a well-known proponent of self-sufficiency in the New River Valley of Virginia since 1965.  Our mission is to promote and support the well-being and self-reliance of individuals, families and communities. NRCA holds the conviction that poverty and hunger are not acceptable conditions in our communities. We believe that ending poverty is an attainable goal through joint community efforts. Each of us has something to contribute; each of us can play a part.

Specific Needs:

• Clothing and Food Bank Assistance
• Office/ Clerical Assistance
• Distributing Posters and Flyers in Community
• Pick Up Donations
• Building Maintenance/Handiwork
• English/Spanish Translation
• Transportation Services
• Thanksgiving and Christmas Assistance
• Head Start Preschool Classrooms
• Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
• SHARE (Self-Help and Resource Exchange) Warehouse and Food Distribution Sites
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

General Contact Info: For more info about volunteer opportunities, please contact a NRCA location:
Radford - (540) 731-3663
Montgomery - (540) 382-6186
Floyd County - (540) 745-2102
or visit their website.

The Caring Pregnancy Center is a non-profit, non-denominational, non-political organization that is committed to providing compassion, information and support to anyone facing the challenge of unintended pregnancy.

Specific Needs: More details coming soon.

General Contact Info: Call 540-394-5004, email info@caringpregnancycenter.net, or visit their website

UWMRF’s community building efforts are focused on generating and providing our community with resources to build support for local human needs. This includes initiatives such as providing Volunteer Solutions, an online volunteer and donation-matching system to improve access to volunteer opportunities for individuals and access to quality volunteers for organizations and charities; assisting with community initiatives such as 2-1-1 Virginia and VT Engage; coordinating Federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding to local charities.

Specific Needs: There are many and various opportunities to volunteer with UWMRF. To find out more, register and complete a volunteer profile so you can receive email alerts about opportunities you would like here.

NLCF Contact: Christina Triantifillou

General Contact Info: Call (540) 381-2066, email info@unitedwaynrv.org, or visit UWMRF’s website.

The Cranwell International Center (CIC) is committed to the university’s global initiatives and serves as the primary support service provider for the international community.  The CIC promotes intercultural exchange, fosters a welcoming environment, and enhances the experience of all university and community participants.

Specific Needs: Opportunities to get involved include being an English Conversation Group facilitator, being part of the International Friendship Program, being part of International Street Fair, or being an Orientation Mentor. With over 2,000 international students on campus each year, the Cranwell International Center is looking for student volunteers to help ease the transition of our international students and to participate in our global community.

Contact Info: For more info, see CIC’s website.

In 2003, a group of Blacksburg friends from local faith groups gathered to see if there was a way to address one of the most pressing social needs in the NRV on an interfaith basis. The group identified the plight of low-income working parents with infant and toddler children, who had few or no choices of good, affordable places to leave their children while they worked. They formed VICCC in response to this need. Their mission is to provide high-quality care and education to the youngest residents of the New River Valley.

Specific Needs: VICCC welcomes volunteers to assist with a wide variety of tasks such as clerical assistance, writing grants or articles, bringing music or a project to the center, planning events to raise awareness and financial support, working one-on-one with a child, or holding a baby.

Contact Info: If you have any questions about volunteering for VICCC, please send an email to viccc@valleyinterfaithchildcarecenter.org or visit VICCC’s website

The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life offers community members the opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event, up to 24 hours in length. The event raises funds to fight cancer and awareness of cancer prevention and treatment.

Specific Needs: Volunteers can create or join a team, or financially support teams through the website.  They may also dedicate luminaries to honor loved ones who have battled cancer. The event is April 24, 2009.

NLCF Contact: Dianne Johnson

General Contact Info: VT Relay for Life

Reaching Our Community is a service club focused on serving Blacksburg, VA. We have a Facebook group: “ROC (Reaching Our Community) Club” and a listserv through which we organize meetings and events.

Specific Needs:
We can use as many volunteers as we can get.  Volunteer opportunities for this winter and spring include:

• Blacksburg community field day
• Community dinners
• Canoeing trash clean-up on the New River
• Food and clothing drives
• Designing a local church playground

Also, volunteers are encouraged to use the gifts God has given them to contribute and even create their own service projects.

NLCF Contact: Nick Mason (masonnj@vt.edu)

Contact Info: rocclub@gmail.com
To join the listserve, send an email to “listserv@listserv.vt.edu”In message body type “subscribe rocclub FirstName LastName” and send it - blank subject.
There will be a confirmation email sent to you shortly after.

The Global Justice Alliance seeks to uncover and dismantle economic and social oppression of all forms through education, visibility, and direct action within the university and New River Valley communities. Global Justice Alliance is currently working on two campaigns: SweatFree VT (ensuring our VT apparel is produced in fair labor conditions) and VT Sustainable Dining/Fair Trade coffee on campus.

Specific Needs: Students and community members willing to hold VT to high ethical standards and stewardship of land, resources, consumption and labor. Global Justice Alliance was formed in Fall 2008 and is looking for new eager members to help shape the future direction of the organization. If it’s about justice, we’re about it.

NLCF Contacts: Meredith Katz (mekatz@vt.edu) and JP Mason (masonjp@vt.edu)

Contact Info: Visit www.justvt.org for more info.

The YMCA at Virginia Tech focuses on its mission of “building community through learning, leadership and service.” The four main program areas of the Y include: Community, Education, International, and Student Programs.

Specific Needs:

• Thrift Shop – can use single volunteers on the dock, sorting clothes, and sorting books and records. ALL Thrift Shop Volunteers MUST schedule their time with Sharon, Brian, or Travis (540-552-2633).
• YMCA Student Programs – home repair, after school programs, one-on-one tutoring, meeting with seniors at Warm Hearth, working with special needs individuals, alternative breaks. Please contact Sandy or Jen at 540-231-3734 for more information.
• Exterior Work – good group activity: Lancaster House, Y Center, Community Gardens, Soar Greenhouse, Hale-YMCA Community Gardens. Please contact Ingrid (ingrid@vtymca.org; 540-961-9622) for more information.

NLCF Contact: Amber Franklin (frankal@vt.edu)

General Contact Info: Visit www.vtymca.org for more info.
Main: ymca@vtymca.org
Student: ymcasp@vt.edu

Prison Fellowship partners with local churches across the country to minister to a group that society often scorns and neglects: prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families.

God, unlike the world, has always chosen to identify closest with those who are isolated and broken. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).

Prison Fellowship reaches out as an act of service to Jesus Christ and as a contribution to restoring peace to cities and communities endangered by crime. The best way to transform communities is by transforming the people within those communities, and truly restorative change comes only through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

NLCF Contact: Stacey Clark (chadandstacey@msn.com; 540-320-7815)

Contact Info: Check out our website.

Pilot Street Project is a partnership with Refugee and Immigration Services. The Pilot Street Project provides a range of programming for children and adults with the goal of building English language proficiency and assisting the families (90% of which are recent refugees, currently from various countries in Africa) in successfully resettling into their new culture. The goal for student volunteers is to help children with their schoolwork as well as with their English, and/or ESL trainers for an adult class held several times weekly.

Specific Needs:

• Volunteers to provide “homework help” with the children grades k-12. This is the area where most help is needed.
• Volunteers to aid in the ESL class for the adults (a 5-hour training class is necessary).
• Volunteers to help in weekend events (planning, carrying them out) for the children.

NLCF Contact: Anna Turpin

Contact information:
Amy Nasta - anasta@vt.edu for more information
Anna Turpin - aturpin@vt.edu to gain information/insight on how volunteering for Pilot Street works. I’d be happy to answer any questions by e-mail or to meet up for coffee or lunch to discuss the project!

Both of these organizations are dedicated to rebuilding homes on the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina in September of 2005. NLCF just got back from a Winter Break trip working with both of these organizations in the Pass Christian, Mississippi area. We will be heading down again over Spring Break.

Specific Needs: We’d love for anyone to join us. No construction experience is necessary!  If you cannot go on the trip but would like to be a part in some way, you can support someone who is going and/or donate to the above mentioned organizations as they rebuild their communities.

NLCF Contact: Jeanette Staats

Contact Info: Jeanette Staats (staats.jeanette@gmail.com; 540.998.8472)
Learn more about Project Reclaim
Learn more about Mission on the Bay

United Intercity Christian Ministries is a church that is dedicated first to preaching to the poor, then to feeding them. They collect food other organizations can’t take and distribute it to people who need it after the Sunday service. They also teach and look out for children in Roanoke.

Specific Needs: We take volunteers every week on Sunday night at 5pm. We take care of the kids during the evening service. We feed them, teach them, and play games with them until their parents come down to get food. If the church is low on volunteers, we also hand out food and occasionally help with dishes.

NLCF Contact: Petie Martin

Contact Info: Check the “Roanoke” box on your blue card in church, or send an email to roanoke-owner@nlcf.net

Started in Fall 2007, we strive to engage students, faculty, community members, and Hokies worldwide in service by taking weekend trips to serve in impoverished Appalachian regions (areas that surround Virginia Tech such as West Virginia, southwest Virginia, etc). During these trips, we make emergency home repairs to homes in the area such as giving families running water for the first time, repairing roofs, repairing foundations, etc. We also strive to draw closer to God’s will and create lasting relationships with homeowners and between team members.

Specific Needs: We need students, faculty, community members, and Hokies worldwide who have a weekend to spare, a desire to serve, and a willingness to be shaped by God’s desire for their lives. No construction experience necessary.

NLCF Contact: Stephen Litsas

Contact Info: Stephen Litsas (slitsas@vt.edu; (919) 247-6411)
Find out more at ASP’s website.

We minister to the disabled community by communicating the gospel and equipping churches worldwide to evangelize and disciple people affected by disabilities (the scope of those affected by disability goes far beyond the person with the disability; it includes their family, friends, co-workers, etc.). We sponsor programs such as family retreats, Wheels for the World, church and community education, media ministries and more.

Specific Needs:

• Family Retreats - week-long retreats for families dealing with disability during which we provide programs, relaxation and the manpower to serve them in any way they may need help.
• Wheels for the World – we need volunteers to collect used wheelchairs from the community, send them to get repaired at our federal prisons, then take trips all across the globe to distribute them to those who may never have another chance for independence from the ground, a mat, or cart that pulls them along. At the same time we have the opportunity to share the gospel with those who we are providing wheelchairs for.
• Ministry opportunities - Both the national office (Agoura Hills, CA) as well as our two nearest field offices (Eastern PA and NC) are always looking for people to help them start local programs to help educate churches and communities about disabilities. Some of these programs include Respite Care, where volunteers take care of children with disabilities for an afternoon while parents rest, or starting disability ministries within local churches to evangelize to those who so often are shut away and ignored.
• Fundraising -the ministry is always in need of people willing to help fundraise or collect donated materials to help with the continuation of the ministry. As a non-profit organization, the majority of the working budget comes from private donations of both money and materials.

NLCF Contact: Jordan Chang

Contact Info: Jordan Chang (jrchang@vt.edu)
www.joniandfriends.org

Habitat for Humanity strives to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world. To date, Habitat has provided over 225,000 homes for more than 1 million people worldwide. These homes are built solely through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials.

Specific Needs: We set up several build dates each semester for volunteers to build homes in the New River Valley. Volunteers are needed to build along with donations of materials such as lumber, sheet rock, or monetary donations.

NLCF Contacts: John Havranek, Marcus Wiles (mwiles86@vt.edu)

Contact Info: Email terri@nrvhabitat.com
VT Chapter
NRV Chapter