Mass Impact Day of Service


  

On Mass Impact Day of Service each fall, hundreds of UMass students, faculty, and staff volunteer with local organizations and lead community service efforts to make a difference in the Pioneer Valley.

“Each fall, we set aside a day to volunteer with local organizations, giving our students an opportunity to connect with the community and build an ongoing relationship with a local non-profit," said Enku Gelaye, vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus life. “Working closely with our local organizations instills a sense of community pride in our students, and contributes to their appreciation of the importance of civic engagement.”

For community partners, it’s an opportunity to mobilize student volunteers for projects large and small. In previous years, community partners have worked with as few as one and as many as 80 volunteers on projects such as farm work at Gardening the Community and Sunset Farm; cleanup and trail maintenance around Belchertown's Lake Wallace; landscaping at Hadley Elementary School; painting picnic tables at Look Park in Florence; and helping create interactive physics discovery features at Sheffield Elementary School in Turners Falls. The event allows community partners to teach students about the importance of their work and perhaps forge ongoing relationships.

Mass Impact Day is sponsored by Student Engagement and Leadership, part of Student Affairs and Campus Life at UMass Amherst.

To participate in Mass Impact as a student volunteer, a community partner, or to propose a project, contact Scott Bocchio at sbocchio@umass.edu.