Jessica Luton
The Union-Recorder
MILLEDGEVILLE —
A Georgia College & State University organization has been connecting students to volunteer service in the Baldwin County community for more than 10 years now.
Known as the Georgia College GIVE Center, the organization was started in 1997 by Kendall Stiles, who now serves as director, and a Georgia College student as a way to connect area college students with agencies in need of volunteers.
According to GIVE Center Assistant Director Paul Sedor, who has been with the organization since 2005, the center’s main goal is to help students find area volunteering opportunities that meet their specific interests.
“We are a volunteer center on campus,” he said. “All of our programs are led by students. Kendall and [I] work with student leaders to plan student activities. They can be from small one-time projects to larger projects, but the students actually plan all the projects.”
The GIVE Center is a major resource for GCSU students hoping to get involved with any type of community service that’s needed in the area, he said.
“Pretty much everything is student-led, and we’re just a resource for groups and individuals that want to get involved with service,” he said. “We talk to them about their interests and help them connect with volunteer services at other organizations in the community.”
To get involved with volunteering in the area, students need only drop by the office, which is located on the GCSU campus at Ennis Hall, and register, he said.
The registration process, which requires students to mark off their interests from a list of 20 categories, have a background check and provide references, helps shorten the process of getting students connected with local agencies and allows the students to find a volunteering opportunity that meets their specific background or interests.
“Students interested in volunteering just need to stop by our office and we can help them get started,” said Sedor.
While the GIVE Center really is focused on getting students connected to the kinds of volunteering services they want to pursue, he said, the center also takes pride in being able to help local area nonprofit agencies get the help that they often need.
Local area nonprofit agencies often communicate with the GIVE Center about their specific needs — projects that they need help with — and the students, in turn, receive e-mails about various volunteering opportunities in the area.
“We’re a connection to get the students involved with the community,” he said. “The student fees pay for our office, and we work with the students, but whenever different agencies need something, they let us know about it.”
New students or returning students interested in getting involved in service in the local community or nonprofit agencies in need of volunteer services need only call the GIVE Center at (478) 445-5700 to get a helping hand.
