For the 9\/11 remembrance, the Montclair State Volunteer Center has organized nearly 20 off-campus sites and on-campus activities for volunteers. Service sites include stocking food pantries and sorting medical supplies.<\/p>\n Each year, more than 1,000 students are engaged in partnership with 200-plus community partners to seek solutions to real issues of public concern. The work includes Montclair State\u2019s\u00a0 lead on AmeriCorps efforts to help the state recover from the pandemic, particularly in areas where the impacts of the pandemic \u2013 job loss, hunger, homelessness and limited access to medical and mental health care \u2013 are endemic.<\/p>\n Campus engagement is high, says Krystal Woolston<\/a>, assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement, because \u201conce you get to college, you’re not only just seeing the challenges in your community, you’re understanding the systemic ways that it got there. That helps to motivate our students because they not only get to volunteer, but they also get to understand why their communities are like that and how they can make an even more impactful change, when they are both pursuing their education and volunteering in their community.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the type of volunteerism that often continues long after students graduate. \u201cThey go on to pursue to be advocates in their communities to do service, to be committed to the things that they love,\u201d Woolston says.<\/p>\n On the Montclair State campus, there are also students motivated to give back to reciprocate for the help they themselves have received, whether gifts from toy drives, or food and clothing.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I came from a low-income area, and I totally benefited from holiday drives,\u201d Woolston says. \u201cYou see the value when people have come to your community, and then you have a desire to say, \u2018I’ve seen how this helped and now I get to be a part of that change. I get to be a part of that difference.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n During the summer, Woolston was among the leaders of an orientation service trip, providing food and giving out clothing to the homeless in Atlantic City, and assisting a nonprofit in repairing group homes for people of differing abilities.<\/p>\n They also helped maintain homes for local residents, including a woman who needed help with her yard. \u201cWe spent a majority of the day trimming her hedges and trees, power washing her patio, picking up around the area and running from wasps,\u201d Perez-Santiago says. \u201cBy the end of the day, we collected so many bags full of branches and leaves. I was really proud of the work that went into this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most rewarding things about service is seeing the smiles of the people we provided service to. I will never forget the smile of a woman whom we helped with fixing and painting her shed. The beauty of service is creating bonds with those whom you provide service to, and gaining wisdom from them,\u201d says Mariana Luna-Martinez, a sophomore Biology major and Bonner Leader.<\/p>\n \u201cThe woman shared endless stories of her life and provided us with life lessons. The most important one was to enjoy life and make the best out of every second. Life goes fast and through her, I was able to learn and appreciate every second of the day. Whether it is eating ice cream or laughing with a friend, we must all enjoy those pockets of peace and life.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/a>.<\/p>\n You May Also Like:<\/p>\n![\"View](\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/09\/2021-09-07_americorps-02.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\")
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