Students raise money (while dancing) for a worthy cause
New Brunswick, N.J. – Whether it’s inspiring New Jersey’s disenfranchised high school students to further their education or implementing a fundraiser for children battling cancer and blood disorders, Rutgers students on the New Brunswick campus are planning and organizing programs to help the needy.
One of Rutgers’ most notable community volunteers is Priya Patel, a second-year student at the School of the Arts and Sciences at Rutgers. This week, Patel received two service awards –the Scholar of Promise awarded by the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which was established under the current federal administration. Patel completed 100 hours of community service during a 12-month period. Patel’s service included working with America’s Promise Alliance, an organization founded in 1997 by former U.S. Secretary of State General Colin Powell.
Dance Marathon is perhaps Rutgers’ signature civic initiative organized by students and undisputedly is New Jersey’s largest student-run philanthropic event. Dance Marathon is a yearlong series of fundraisers that culminates in a 32-hour dance-a-thon where students and the general public support the Embrace Kids Foundation (formerly the Institute for Children with Cancer and Blood Disorders). Since 2000, Dance Marathon has donated more than $1.3 million to Embrace Kids.
This year there are more than 450 registered dancers, 500 volunteers, and nearly 100 Rutgers students in leadership roles. A website, www.rudm.org, goes live on March 19 and will stream live video and music from the dance-a-thon and host an Internet auction.
The dance-a-thon begins Saturday, April 5 at 10 a.m. and concludes 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 6 at the College Avenue Gymnasium, 130 College Avenue, New Brunswick. Admission is free. For more information, go to marathon.rutgers.edu.
See below for a sample of the various community programs organized by Rutgers students:
March 17 to 21
Alternative Spring Break – Dominican Republic
The Center for Latino Arts and Culture is sponsoring an alternative spring break trip to the Dominican Republic. Ten Rutgers students will work with Asociación de Ayuda Social, Ecológica y Cultural (English translation: Association of Social, Ecological, and Cultural Help), a local organization for Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic that has six soup kitchens feeding 50 children daily. Also, Rutgers students will work with a local school, Mata De Los Indios, in Villa Mella to conduct art projects.
Each Rutgers student will bring gently used clothes, medicine, toys and other goods to donate to Dominican communities.
For more information, contact Sandra Rocio Castro, associate director of the Center for Latino Arts and Culture, at 732-932-1263 or scastro@rci.rutgers.edu.
Alternative Spring Break – Beards Fork, West Virginia
During spring break, 11 undergraduate students selected from more than 47 applicants, will forgo sunbaths on the Florida shores to build houses for underprivileged families in Beards Fork, W.Va. Rutgers students will also work with West Virginians similar in age who are working to pass the GED test.
In preparation for the project, students participated in six noncredit classes and will conduct a presentation about the trip on April 11 at noon at the Rutgers Student Center, Multipurpose Room, 126 College Avenue, New Brunswick.
For more information, contact Karen Ardizzone, assistant director of student involvement, at 732-932-6978 or kardizzo@rci.rutgers.edu.
April 5 and 6
Dance Marathon for the Embrace Kids Foundation
The Dance Marathon is a yearlong series of fundraisers that culminate in a 32-hour dance-a-thon where students and the general public support the Embrace Kids Foundation. Since 2000, Dance Marathon has donated over $1.3 million to the charity. The dance-a-thon begins Saturday, April 5 at 10 a.m. and concludes at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 6 at the College Avenue Gymnasium, 130 College Avenue, New Brunswick. Admission is free. For more information, go to marathon.rutgers.edu.
For more information, contact Michael Speziale, director of communication and outreach at Rutgers University Dance Marathon, at dir-outreach@marathon.rutgers.edu or Renee Cummings, family services manager at the Embrace Kids Foundation, at 732-247-1413 or renee@embracekids.org.
April 17
Ubuntu $10,000 Middle School Library Campaign
Rutgers student organization Ubuntu is raising $10,000 to purchase nonfiction books for the New Brunswick Middle School. The middle school’s current book-to-student ratio is 4-to-1; the American Library Association recommends 20 books per student.
The organization is raising funds through the university’s meal sign-away program in which Rutgers students can donate the cost of their guests’ meals toward a prearranged charitable fundraiser. To date, 884 students have pledged a meal, and 3,334 meals are needed by April 17.
The organization’s name is rooted in the South African Bantu language. “The English translation for ‘ubuntu’ is humanist or interconnectedness. The concept of ‘ubuntu’ is that everyone’s fate is inextricably linked to each other,” says Gilda Charles, president of Ubuntu and a third-year student at Livingston College. “If we acknowledge someone’s humanity rather than differences, there is a greater chance of achieving understanding.”
Ubuntu started on campus in the fall semester of 2006. The student group was modeled after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established to acknowledge and address the consequences of apartheid. A key principle of the organization is to openly and honestly discuss controversial issues. Ubuntu hosts discussion groups with students from diverse religions, ethnicities and economic backgrounds. The rules that govern the discussions are respect and honesty. All perspectives are welcome and students are encouraged not to use politically-correct vocabulary.
For more information, contact Gilda Charles at 908-370-1513 or gcharles@eden.rutgers.edu, or Crystal Coache, chair of Ubuntu’s community service committee and third-year Douglass College student, at crystcoa@eden.rutgers.edu or 973-270-6991.
July 11 through Aug. 15
Healing Through the Arts Summer Camp
Fifteen Rutgers students will serve as camp counselors to 50 New Brunswick youth ages 10 through 16. The day camp is free, including all meals. Monday through Friday camp participants will engage in activities such as art projects, field trips and recreation.
The five-week camp was founded in 1996 by a partnership of four community organizations – including the Center for Latino Arts and Culture at Rutgers – called the Artists Mentoring against Racism, Drugs and Violence (AMAR D&V). Since the camp began, more than 500 New Brunswick children have gone through the program.
For more information, contact Sandra Rocio Castro, co-director of AMAR D&V for more than 10 years and associate director of the Center for Latino Arts and Culture, at 732-932-1263 or scastro@rci.rutgers.edu.
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Media Contact: Nicole Pride
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E-mail: npride@ur.rutgers.edu