Waltham Group, Brandeis’ largest student-led volunteer organization, held its first recruitment event of the school year Monday night, Sept. 8. The event was designed to give first-year students an idea of the range of volunteer options available and how to get involved in them.
Though there are other similar clubs at Brandeis, Waltham Group is one of the oldest volunteer organizations on campus. It has a large range of groups and efforts, spanning from organizing Blood Drives, to free tutoring, to the Companions to Elders Program. All of their programs are free of charge for members of the Waltham Community.
The recruitment event featured tables, spread throughout the atrium of the Shapiro Campus Center (SCC), representing each of the different groups encompassed within the Waltham Group. A student in a red heart costume ran around the atrium and handed out fliers to students attending the event to promote the upcoming blood drive. At the front of the SCC, there was a table with Waltham Group members who handed out fliers with the various volunteer options and short descriptions of some of the sub-groups.
To entice potential volunteers, some groups had candy or cupcakes set up next to listserv sign-up sheets. Behind the tables were representatives from the groups to take any questions that interested students may have had about their group. In the center of the room were student volunteer coordinators in blue shirts pointing students to tables based on their interests.
One student, Annie Lieber ’18, came to the Waltham Group’s recruitment night having already volunteered in Waltham through her high school youth group. “Last year I did Impact Boston…so I volunteered at community housing projects in Waltham for a couple of weeks.” Lieber was one of many first-years who came to the event looking for a way to get involved in volunteering through a campus organization.
“I’ve always been in volunteering and I wanted to continue that through college because I really enjoyed it,” said Subhi Satkoba ’16. Satkoba is a one of the coordinators for Junior Brandeis Achievers (JBA), a sub-group that provides free after-school activities for Stanley and Plympton elementary schools in Waltham. Activities sponsored and organized by the JBA group include dance and fitness clubs, an “Iron Chef” club and art clubs.
Waltham Group’s first recruitment event’s large turnout is a testament to the community’s devotion to community service, especially in the immediate Waltham area. The club will continue to have recruitment events throughout the year and are reachable via email or in person at its office on the third floor of the SCC.
