August 27, 2024
This year marked the event’s resurgence since it was curtailed in response to the Covid pandemic. The event was organized by Maxwell Wigoda, community service coordinator at Susquehanna’s Johnson Center for Civic Engagement.
“I wanted students to get involved with the community early to slingshot their local connections as early as possible, which I think was very successful,” Wigoda said. “Bringing back an experience like this really demonstrates how important making early connections will impact students not only within the campus community, but in Selinsgrove and the central Susquehanna Valley.”
SU GIVE is a Susquehanna University tradition that provides first-year students a chance to work hand-in-hand with new classmates for a common goal and introduces them to service opportunities throughout the region. Among the organizations that benefitted from the volunteer effort were East Snyder Community Garden, Habitat for Humanity, Kidsgrove Park, the Lewisburg Children’s Museum and the Shamokin Dam Fire Co.
“I liked the unity involved,” one first-year student reflected. “I enjoyed that we worked on various tasks to help better the community and that’s what made it rewarding.”
Students also volunteered at the Selinsgrove REC where they cleaned out and organized the REC’s storage shed and completed various other cleaning tasks.
“The Selinsgrove REC is appreciative of the hard work Susquehanna’s student volunteers completed for us. It was a pleasure meeting with these students, and they all came ready to work,” said REC Director Matt Santa ’19. “SU GIVE is a wonderful program, and as an alumnus myself, it makes me proud to see Susquehanna students serving and engaging the community.”
SU GIVE is organized by Susquehanna’s Johnson Center for Civic Engagement, which is committed to providing opportunities for students, faculty and staff to learn about and reflect upon their roles as active, informed citizens within the community.
“Service projects have the unique power to unite people from varying backgrounds, transforming shared efforts into shared bonds,” said Frank Crofchick, director of leadership & engagement at Susquehanna University. “Through collaboration, Susquehanna’s newest students created a sense of unity among themselves and got to know the community they will call home for the next four years.”