New students spent part of a day assisting local nonprofits and agencies with activities that helped improve the lives of people and animals in need across North Carolina's Piedmont Triad.
Elon Law’s Class of 2018 learned more about the needs of the greater Greensboro community when students participated in a day of service as part of their weeklong orientation to the study of law.
Students assisted local nonprofits and agencies on Aug. 13, 2016, with various types of work. Agencies were:
- Junior League of Greensboro
- Volunteer Connect
- Salvation Army
- Humane Society of the Piedmont
- Potter’s House Community Kitchen
- Out of the Garden Project
- “Build-a-Bunny”
“This is an extremely important part of orientation for the incoming students,” Leah Britt L’17, chair of the Mentor Program for the Class of 2018. “If it becomes part of their habit now, it will become a part of their lifestyle once they are out of law school and practicing.”
At “Build-a-Bunny,” a program organized by Elon Law Associate Dean Kathleen McLeod, students stuffed and decorated plush bunnies to be donated to local families with children.
Out of the Garden Project is a local nonprofit that provides well-balanced meals to low-income families. Students distributed food families that visited one of the nonprofit’s mobile sites at a local elementary school.
Animal lovers in the Class of 2018 helped at a downtown 5K race organized by the Humane Society of the Piedmont. Mariah Murray L’18 oversaw one of 10 water stations that serviced nearly 300 racers. “It truly made me proud to be part of this community and to be involved in such a great cause,” she said.
Richard Williams L’18 volunteered with the Junior League of Greensboro’s consignment store, “The Bargain Box,” which is moving to a new location and received student help with packing. Proceeds from store sales fund myriad projects throughout the community.
“I really enjoyed dedicating a little bit of my time to help a big cause,” he said. “It allowed me to be part of something bigger than myself.”
Another student group discovered a more emotional task in cleaning up a local veterans cemetery. The organization behind the clean-up, Volunteer Connect, hopes to have the whole cemetery clean before Memorial Day 2017.
“It’s such a worthy cause,” said Britney Boles L’17, a mentor who oversaw the group of new students. “And we all want to go back.”