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March 30, 2020

Dear Public Service News subscribers:

Last week, we sent a newsletter with resources for dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as opportunities (and tips!) for helping others safely. If you need help, or if you’re wondering how you can best help others, you can revisit that email on this webpage.

This week, we’re returning to our focus on CCPS and UNC-Chapel Hill programs as we all adjust to the “new normal” of remote work and learning. The types of opportunities you see below may differ in structure from what you saw before COVID-19 reached the U.S.—but remember that your ability to stay engaged with your community has not diminished. Public service and community engagement will simply look different while we use physical distancing to keep each other safe and healthy.

As always, CCPS doesn’t endorse or sponsor any listings below except those under “Opportunities at CCPS.”

Table of Contents

OPPORTUNITIES AT CCPS

  • TODAY: Apply for SMART Mentoring
  • 4/5: Apply for SECU Public Fellows Internship Program
  • Starting 4/15: Faculty can apply for Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars
  • Service Partnership Mini-Grants
  • Faculty/staff: Create a profile in the engaged scholarship directory

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AT CAROLINA

  • TODAY: Apply for CUBE social innovation program
  • Career services for students
  • Counseling and Psychological Services

COVID-19 DONATION OPPORTUNITIES

  • Donate money
  • Donate personal protective equipment
  • Donate food
  • Donate blood
  • Donate personal necessities

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE TRIANGLE

  • Form for volunteering with Orange County agencies
  • Chapel Hill Community Post website for community-identified needs
  • UNC Partnerships in Aging Program sign-up form for assisting Orange County seniors
  • Commissioner Sally Greene blog post on remote support in Orange County
  • Raleigh News and Observer list of local nonprofits

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ANYWHERE

  • Respond to the U.S. Census
  • Activate Good list of remote volunteer opportunities
  • Idealist column with ideas for virtual volunteering
  • Michigan State list of virtual volunteer opportunities

OPPORTUNITIES AT CCPS

TODAY: Apply for SMART Mentoring
SMART Mentoring is a program that engages Carolina undergraduate students with local middle school students in mentoring relationships. The program is an academic year-long commitment, including a three-credit-hour course in the fall on race, class and gender, and a one-credit-hour course in the spring. After the spring semester, the student will receive an EE credit and credit for a service-learning course. Apply though the CCPS Application and Nomination Portal by the end of today, March 30. Email Purshotam Aruwani or Tori Dunlap with questions.

4/5: Apply for SECU Public Fellows Internship Program

Thanks to generous support from the SECU Foundation, CCPS is now offering in-state Carolina students the opportunity to apply to be a SECU Public Fellows Intern. This program connects talented undergraduate students with local leadership in rural North Carolina communities. As an intern, you’ll benefit from meaningful professional experience with a local agency or organization, while giving back to a rural community that may be your own hometown. Interns are eligible to receive up to $5,000 for the summer. Please read this webpage to learn about the program before beginning your application.

Starting 4/15: Faculty can apply for Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars
CCPS will recruit and select a new class of Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars this spring. TFES is a two-year program that will run from fall semester 2020 through spring semester 2022. Applications will open by April 15. Learn more online. If you’d like to receive an individual notification about the application process or have questions, contact Margaret Barrett.

Service Partnership Mini-Grants
In celebration of our 20th anniversary, CCPS is offering Service Partnership Mini-Grants to Carolina students. We intend for these mini-grants, which range from $150-300, to help build deeper connections between Carolina students and off-campus community partners by funding project- or event-based collaborations. Apply online though the CCPS Application and Nomination Portal, and email Ryan Nilsen with questions.

Faculty/staff: Create a profile in the engaged scholarship directory
The Community Engaged Scholars Directory showcases faculty and staff from across UNC-Chapel Hill who conduct community-engaged scholarship. We hope this directory will draw attention to engaged scholarship at Carolina and help foster university-wide connections surrounding engagement. If you’re a Carolina faculty or staff member whose work is community-engaged, please consider registering yourself in the directory! We encourage all Carolina constituents to use this directory as a resource for connecting with others committed to engaging communities through their research and teaching.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AT CAROLINA

TODAY: Apply for CUBE social innovation program
Do you have an innovative idea that could make the world a better place? CUBE is a program dedicated to supporting a community of undergraduate and graduate innovators as they develop social ventures. Up to 10 Tar Heel teams will receive one year of specialized access to one-on-one coaching, a network of social entrepreneurs and student innovators, up to $3,500 in seed funding and more. Apply online by the end of today, March 30. For questions, email Jaki Bonilla.

Career services for students
University Career Services is offering alternatives to the canceled career and graduate school info fairs, plus additional experiential learning opportunities for job (or graduate school) seeking students. Learn about upcoming deadlines and other details on the UCS website.

Counseling and Psychological Services
Carolina students can call 919-966-3658 for 24/7 counseling with a therapist from UNC Counseling and Psychological Services. Read CAPS’ blog post about managing anxiety during the pandemic. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, is reachable 24/7. For the Crisis Text Line, you can text TALK to 741741.

COVID-19 DONATION OPPORTUNITIES

Donate money

  • Many of our partners have shared with us that their highest need right now is funding, rather than volunteers. Keep this in mind when deciding how you can best support community organizations.
  • Do you make a yearly donation to a specific nonprofit? Consider moving the timing of that donation to now.
  • You can donate to the Carolina Student Impact Fund to support UNC-Chapel Hill students affected by COVID-19.

Donate personal protective equipment

  • UNC Health is now accepting donations of personal protective equipment. Most urgent needs are: N95 masks, surgical masks and nasal swabs. Other needs include disinfectant, eye protection, disposable gloves and gowns, hand sanitizer, hand soap, shoe covers and handmade masks.
  • Consider searching online for other health organizations that may be accepting donations of personal protective equipment.

Donate food

  • For residents in Chapel Hill-Carrboro: Donate food at TABLE drop boxes.
  • Also in Chapel Hill: Inter-Faith Council is accepting food donations.
  • Consider searching online for similar programs wherever you live.

Donate blood

Donate personal necessities

  • The Diaper Bank of North Carolina is accepting children’s and adult diapers, zip-seal sandwich bags, disposable gloves, lysol wipes, hand sanitizer and more.
  • The Inter-Faith Council website lists a variety of products that are in need.
  • Consider searching online for similar programs wherever you live.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE TRIANGLE

  • Submit this form if you’re interested in volunteering with a public agency in Orange County.
  • Visit the Chapel Hill Community Post website for self-identified community needs in the Chapel Hill area.
  • If you’re interested in assisting Orange County seniors, submit this form organized by the UNC Partnership in Aging Program.
  • This blog post by Commissioner Sally Greene provides ideas on remote support in Orange County.
  • The Raleigh News and Observer is maintaining a list of local nonprofits working to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, along with ways you can contribute.
  • Consider searching online for similar programs wherever you live.
  • CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ANYWHERE

  • Participating in the U.S. Census is an important means of civic engagement, especially as coronavirus may disrupt the count. Do your part and fill out the census online. Students who were living on campus have already been counted. Students who were living off-campus, please respond online with your school address.
  • Visit the Activate Good website for a list of remote volunteer opportunities.
  • This Idealist column provides additional ideas on virtual volunteering.
  • Michigan State put together this great list of virtual volunteer opportunities.
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    ABOUT OUR NEWSLETTER

    The Carolina Center for Public Service publishes this newsletter to keep students, faculty, staff and community members up-to-date on public service resources, programs and volunteer opportunities. To stay even more connected to public service and engagement at Carolina, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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