The Max A. Shacknai COVE lead their biannual Afternoon of Service, Friday, September 16, 2016. Students on campus visited local community partners to work on various projects throughout Hamilton and the surrounding area in order to give back to the community that is their home away from home.
“We are giving back to the community that gives so much to us,” said one Colgate student who volunteered their afternoon. The fall Afternoon of Service is specifically associated with 9/11 as a day of service and remembrance.“[I felt] a duty to serve, especially as a tribute to those lost on 9/11.”
This year the COVE had about 65 students working with 11 different community partners in the local area. Some partners provided opportunities for students to work outside with our local agriculture and environment by harvesting crops and cleaning trout ponds, including Common Thread Farm, Heritage Farm, and Friends of Roger. In our neighboring town of Earlville, students helped to clean the historic Earlville Opera House. Other partners in the area included Community Bikes, an organization that donates bikes to those who do not have available to them a form of transportation to get to work, and the Chenango Canal, an association dedicated to preserving the historical canal and surrounding recreational sites for the community. Within our own town of Hamilton, students went out to the Hamilton Center for the Arts, Madison Lane Apartments, and the Hamilton Library to donate their time and help our community and neighbors.
Ultimately, this year’s 9/11 Afternoon of Service was a great success. For the volunteers, the day was a chance for individuals to not only spend time working for good causes but also to immerse themselves in the people and environment of the Hamilton area. Or, as one student put, “It really connects many different parts of the local community. Brings together all kinds of people.”
