CardinalCorps Service Organizations
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| An Otterbein volunteer visits with a nursing-home resident at a Valentine's Day party. |
The Center for Community Engagement sponsors 11 weekly service programs that offer Otterbein students the opportunity to become involved in the Westerville and Columbus communities. The programs focus on issues ranging from tutoring and mentoring children and teens, environmental awareness, civic engagement, animal well-being, and community inclusion. Transportation for all volunteers is provided to all activities. Read below for a list of our weekly service organizations. Click on the links for more information and to view photos of Otterbein volunteers in action with our community partners.
America Reads is a nationally renowned tutoring program that offers after-school help by developing reading skills with Avalon Elementary 2nd-grade students. Otterbein students volunteer once a week to tutor their 2nd grade partner in vocabulary, grammar, and reading fluency.
Campus Girl Scouts is an active chapter of the Girl Scouts organization currently comprised of female Otterbein students, though both males and females are welcome to become members. Members of the Campus Girl Scouts are enthusiastic volunteers who want to make a difference in their community and in the lives of young girls. In order to accomplish these goals, the members act as facilitators and mentors in a biweekly program designed for teenage girls at the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility. Through various badge earning activities, the Campus Girl Scouts strive to help the girls cultivate their full potential and prepare them to become confident, courageous and compassionate young women.
Circle K International is a Kiwanis-sponsored collegiate service organization, and Otterbein now has its own local chapter. Circle K focuses on leadership and personal development as volunteers serve their campuses and communities, often with an emphasis on helping children.
Club Whittier is an after-school program for 4th and 5th grade students at Whittier Elementary School. Here, Otterbein Volunteers have the opportunity to give homework help to elementary students and participate in fun activities and games designed to develop academic curiosity, leadership abilities, community awareness, creativity, and teamwork.
Grandma's House is a new service organization that will link volunteers with shut-in elderly neighbors in the Westerville community. Otterbein volunteers can visit these neighbors and share hospitality through activities and chats.
Through the Indianola Mentoring Program , 7th and 8th grade students are bussed to Otterbein's campus every week where they meet with their college mentors. During their visit, the mentoring pairs work together on activities that encourage academic achievement, personal development, and future aspirations. After the activities, both college and middle school students enjoy dinner together in the Cardinal's Nest cafeteria.
The Otterbein Animal Coalition is the newest of our weekly service programs. Formed by our own students' interests, this program partners with a local animal shelter, Citizens for Humane Action. Student volunteers will have the opportunity to visit the shelter during evenings to care for abandoned pets.
Plan-It Earth is Otterbein's student organization that focuses on building environmentally friendly practices on campus and in the community. Each week Plan-It Earth members meet to discuss how to encourage others to reduce their ecological footprint. This group also plans activities that give back to our earth such as picking up litter, planning recycling projects and initiatives, and volunteering at Otterbein Lake.
Raise Your Voice is also a national program based out of Campus Compact. Student participants are active in encouraging civic participation among both students and community members. This organization sponsors "coffee-talks" on current issues and is involved in several events that highlight the importance of being a responsible citizen.
Rotaract is a new Otterbein College service organization that is sponsored by the Westerville Rotary Club. This group of Otterbein students is part of a network of over 7,000 clubs in about 163 countries and geographical areas worldwide. Rotaract is dedicated to carrying out the Rotary Four-Way Test at the college level. In all that we say, think, or do: 1) Is it the truth? 2) Is it fair to all concerned? 3) Will it build good will and better friendships? 4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Sports Pals offers Otterbein students the opportunity to teach and encourage good sportsmanship and responsible actions through fun and games. During this after-school program at Avalon Elementary School, volunteers work together with elementary students on activities that build character and friendship.
Troop 1847 is a burgeoning service organization at Otterbein College intended for members of the Girl Scouts’ Bonds Beyond Bars program, which is designed to nurture the bond between parent and child when a parent is incarcerated. The girls, who range in age from 6 to 11, currently visit their mothers every other weekend at two different correctional facilities in the Central Ohio area. The girls will be invited to attend various events through Troop 1847 on the alternate weekends. The purpose of these events is to establish positive relationships, allow the girls to experience the life of a college student and provide alternative pathways for success.
United Methodist Children's Home volunteers extend friendship and compassion to teens in transition from unstable home lives to foster care. At UMCH, Otterbein students build relationships with the teens and work on activities that provide encouragement for a bright future.
