The MSU community can seem as though it’s a world apart from the city of East Lansing, but in the summer, with most of MSU’s students gone, there are chances to get more involved in MSU’s surrounding community through volunteering.
Marketing senior Adelia Coski volunteers at the Capital Area Humane Society in Lansing, and she said volunteering is a meaningful experience that makes people well rounded.
“You feel like you’re making a contribution,” Coski said. “It gives you a purpose and it’s something you can feel good about.”
Coski said volunteering isn’t something you do for yourself, and working at the shelter allows her to give attention to animals that were abandoned.
But if you’re looking to volunteer a little closer to home, the city of East Lansing has made it easier by creating a volunteer page on their website, Ami Van Antwerp, the city’s communication coordinator said.
Van Antwerp said anyone can volunteer for the listed events and programs by filling out an online volunteer registration form, also located on the webpage.
“There (are) just so many opportunities in this community,” Van Antwerp said.
A variety of volunteer locations appear on the webpage, from the East Lansing Public Library to the East Lansing Environmental Stewardship Program.
Another opportunity, which is not listed, is Haven House. Haven House is a homeless shelter for familles, Volunteer and Special Projects coordinator Leah Weidner said, adding they take one-parent families or couples with at least one child.
Human development and family studies senior Grant Davis, an intern at Haven House, said he decided to work there because he wanted to help people. Davis also has a past of volunteering at elementary and preschools.
“I saw a lot of kids who weren’t getting meals at night and not having a good life outside of school, so I decided I wanted to help them,” Davis said.
Weidner said Haven House offers a 30-day program for families to learn financial responsibility and get them on the track to stability and permanent housing. She said some families stay longer, depending on their situation, but the average length of stay is 17 to 18 days.
“Our motto is ‘ending family homelessness one family at a time,” Weidner said.
The shelter is always looking for more volunteers, Weidner said, especially to help with cooking the nightly family dinners and helping with the children. Other opportunities include working in the play room and volunteering or doing an internship in the office.
“Working in the office you really learn the ins and outs of how we operate and how we help families,” Weidner said.
Haven House can accommodate up to 20 volunteers at one time and you are able to volunteer as a group, Weidner said.
Many students come in for class requirements and are either placed in the office or with the kids, both of which require training. Weidner said the kids are excited to work with the volunteers.
Davis said he learned about Haven House through a school assignment and he is currently going through training, but he thinks there are many benefits to volunteering.
“It’s a good feeling when you get home at night, to know that you made a difference in someone else’s life,” Davis said, adding that volunteering can be a way to add great job experience.
