Willimantic, CT –Several community service programs won top honors at Eastern Connecticut State University’s Community Service Expo on April 19. Guest judges from the Willimantic community, as well as Eastern faculty and staff, awarded prizes in six categories, including Broadening Horizons, Putting Liberal Arts into Action, Going Green, Leadership Development, Strengthening Communities and Best New Program.
“The Service Expo is an opportunity for our students to share their experiences in the community, to reflect on their contributions and to articulate how the experience relates to their liberal arts education,” said Kim Silcox, director of Eastern’s Center for Community Engagement. “Eastern faculty and our community partners judge the projects in each category, and tell us how impressed they are with the dedication of the students.”
The Puentes al Futuro (Bridges to the Future) middle school and high school afterschool programs won first prize in the Best New Program, Broadening Horizons, and Leadership Development categories. The program also won runner-up in the Putting Liberal Arts into Action category. The Education Club’s “Science Extravaganza” was runner-up in the Best New Program category, while the Social Work Club’s WAIM “Adopt-a-Family” and “No-Freeze Shelter Toiletry Drive” was runner-up in the Broadening Horizons category.
The first-prize winner in the Putting Liberal Arts into Action category was the VITA Tax Assistance program. The Going Green category award-winner was “Alternative Spring Break: Generous Gardens,” a community service effort that took place in South Carolina. The Strengthening Communities category first-prize winner was the People Helping People club’s “Weekly Pen Pals Program with Natchaug” effort. Runner-up in the same category was the “Brooklyn Correctional Institute’s GED Tutoring Program.”
Eastern Connecticut State University is the state’s public liberal arts university and serves approximately 5,400 students each year on its Willimantic campus and satellite locations.