This summer I was lucky enough to work at Community Impact as a Van Amson Summer Fellow.

Enthusiastic to be at CI carrying out my proposed project – creating video content for the CI website – I spent the end of my spring semester and most of summer filming different programs and interviewing staff, student executives, coordinators, and volunteers.

During the academic year I am a coordinator for one of CI’s youth programs, Artists Reaching Out. Having worked with ARO since the first semester of my freshman year, I look back on this summer as an amazing opportunity to really learn about the many other amazing programs CI has to offer. I had definitely heard and read descriptions of CI’s 25 different programs, but experiencing them first-hand made these descriptions come alive for me in a very special way.

Seeing so many of CI’s programs in action gave me a new understanding of breadth and variety of services CI provides. I left my fellowship project with greater awareness and respect for the work done and issues addressed by the organization. Through my interviews and off-camera conversations with participants, staff, and students, I also felt an energy and passion that I found incredibly inspiring.

I hope that my final videos from this summer will give everyone who has not had the opportunity to see all the CI programs in person a taste of what I experienced this summer – a closer, more personal look at CI’s many programs and the wonderful people who both participate and work so hard to keep these programs running. I also hope that individual groups will carry on this project and make videos of their programs in the coming semesters. It’s a dynamic way to share your experiences with the rest of us!

-Victoria Fox

To view Victoria’s amazing videos please visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/ciexecs

Community Impact is excited to launch a new website bringing together all of the service groups on campus.

In 2010, the 8 members of the Community Impact Leadership Program found that there was no place to find a list of all volunteer opportunities at Columbia University. They decided to take matters into their own hands, and created Columbia Volunteers, the first and only comprehensive database of all community service groups at Columbia University!

Over 40 different groups on campus have submitted their information to the database, and it’s continuously growing. if your group is not on there you will find a form to submit information.

We encourage you to browse our website and find a community service group that interests you. Service has a home at Columbia.

Please visit our site at: http://communityimpactatcu.org/groups/cuvol

We have recently updated out “About Us” to include information about CI as a governing board. As many of our volunteers probably know, Community Impact operates as a governing board at Columbia alongside other boards including SGB and ABC. Our status as a governing board dictates where our student funding comes from and provides us a framework within the university by which to exist. This new section also includes reference materials – our constitution and spending guidelines – for those interested in learning more about our operations. To check it out please view:

http://communityimpactatcu.org/about-us/community-impact-as-a-governing-board

Spring is a time for new beginnings – new classes, new study habits, new weather. What about making new friends and helping new people through a new volunteer commitment?

Community Impact is looking for volunteers and work-study students to work with our 25 different groups. Whether it be teaching weekly GED classes, tutoring a struggling elementary school, or serving in a food kitchen, Community Impact provides students with meaningful opportunities.

Come learn about our programs this Tuesday from 6:00 – 9:00 in the Earl Hall Auditorium.

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=256453050781&index=1

We updated our facebook fan page tonight. You can now view our fans directly from our homepage. Additionally, we have added a new About Us section as well as a page enabling you to learn more about each of our programs.

Please become a fan!