Given Dr. King’s achievements, I think that MLK Day is a different holiday than most because it urges us not to take time for ourselves, but to give time to our community. Dr. King made incredible changes to this country, and I think the best way to really take advantage of the holiday and honor its underlying meaning is to go out into the community and help to make positive changes.

With that in mind, I’m really excited for MLK Day of Service taking place this Monday. The event, in which nine colleges and about 1200 people participate, is an exciting day-long event that includes a rally and a huge number of service projects designed to enrich the community. In years past, the service has happened at sites all around the greater Portland area, but this year, all of the service will take place at Roosevelt High School.

I think that MLK Day of Service is a great idea because it really captures the spirit of the Dr. King and the spirit of the holiday. Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” An event like this gives a large amount of people the opportunity to go out and do something for the communities around them. Many people can be paralyzed by the fact that it’s very difficult to make in impact in the world, but I think community service like this makes that sort of impact. It really all starts at the community level, and 1200 college students getting together to better a local high school and the surrounding neighborhoods is a part of that impact. MLK Day of Service is a national event, and if we have groups across the country making small impacts like those of us in Portland will be, then those impacts will compound, and we will have done a great deal for our country as a whole.

That’s why community service is important: being a part of something like this really helps us answer Dr. King’s question, “What are you doing for others?” I hope you all get out and do something on MLK Day!

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Josh Francis is a Community Engagement Coordinator in the Center for Career and Community Engagement at Lewis & Clark. He is a English and Hispanic Studies major set to graduate in May.

In my experience, this model is a really useful way to dive deeper into a specific issue area, meet people with similar interests, and make meaningful connections to local non-profits. It’s also the closest thing to service learning, something that we’re a big fan of in 3CE, that Hands On offers.

Most recently, I helped develop and participated in the Intentional Holiday Service TeamWorks. It was focused on reframing how we think about the holiday season in order to maximize joy and minimize stress. The absolute highlight of the TeamWorks was volunteering at the Community Cycling Center’s Holiday Bike Drive. You can read more about the Community Cycling Center in my last blog post. I should note that this one of the most highly coveted volunteer shifts of the year. I emailed their volunteer coordinator nearly four months in advance to secure our slots.

The Holiday Bike Drive provides refurbished bikes, new helmets, and safety information to hundreds of low-income children in the Portland area. I had the privilege of serving as a helmet fitter at this wonderful event and had a great time. I have to say that I was initially surprised by how involved helmet fitting is. Children’s bike helmets are much fancier now (and much safer) than when I was a kid so it took some practice to properly adjust all of the straps and get it just right.

The event was also a lesson in cultural competence. Many of the families at the Bike Drive were immigrants and came through the various stations accompanied by a volunteer interpreter. I enjoyed seeing all of the different hairstyles sported by the young girls. I had to take care to fit helmets around buns, braids, beads, and head scarves.

Bike Drive Promotional Poster designed by Ben Latterell

By the end of the day we had given away nearly 500 refurbished bikes and new helmets. It was inspiring to see the joy on the faces of these children and their parents. In my mind, participating in events like this is what it really means to get into the “holiday spirit.”

If you are interested in volunteering with the Community Cycling Center, visit their volunteer page. I’d recommend getting involved with their Tuesday night volunteer shifts, attending a volunteer orientation session, and learning more about the classes, camps, and workshops they offer. If nothing else, you can buy your next bike from the bike shop.

I want to leave you all with my favorite story from the day. Some sneaky parents told their son that he was going to the hospital to get “a poke” (i.e. vaccine. The event was held in the beautiful atrium of a local hospital). When they arrived at the hospital, the parents told their son that he was actually there to get a shiny new bike, not a shot. As you can imagine, this was thrilling news.

So I challenge you all to get into the holiday spirit by going out into your neighborhood and meeting critical community needs. There’s a place for holiday gift giving, cookie baking, and feasting, but I challenge you to give gifts to a children’s hospital, bake cookies for home-bound seniors, and feast with the homeless at a soup kitchen or food pantry. ‘Tis the season to give back.

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Kelsey Domann-Scholz is the Program Coordinator in 3CE and also works as the TeamWorks Intern at Hands On Greater Portland. You can email her at kdomann@lclark.edu.

Here we go…. in no particular order.

1) Community Cycling Center

The Community Cycling Center “broadens access to bicycling and its benefits through [their] hands-on programs, volunteer projects, and neighborhood bike shop.” I’ve participated in their Tuesday evening volunteer shift as a volunteer “mechanic” (I actually just cleaned the bikes but the real mechanics work on them) preparing bikes for their Holiday Bike Drive, a program that gives over 400 bikes and helmets to children from low-income families in the Portland area. Their other programs include commuter classes, after school programs, and bike camps. To get involved, visit their volunteer page.

2) Operation Nightwatch

I have had some truly amazing experiences at Operation Night Watch. ONW is a hospitality center downtown that aims to meet both the physical and social needs of Portland’s homeless population. I love playing board games with patrons while drinking hot coffee and hearing their story. Click here to learn more.

3) ReBuilding Center

“The ReBuilding Center, a project of Our United Villages, is a vibrant resource working to strengthen the environmental, economic, and social fabric of local communities.” Their main gig is reclaiming building materials and selling them at low prices in their store. You can find everything from scrap wood to fancy claw foot bathtubs to furniture in their warehouse and ReFind Furniture store. This is the way of our sustainable future! Sign up to do a shift in warehouse, sorting screws or pulling nails out of old boards, or check out their long-term volunteer opportunities.  Groups can volunteer Monday through Saturday 9 am to 6 pm, and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. You can also sign up for “after hours” projects through Hands-On-Greater-Portland.

4) TeamWorks with Hands On Greater Portland

Interested in making a longer-term commitment to volunteering and going deeper into the issues? Then TeamWorks is for you! Teams consist of 10-12 volunteers who commit to a series of 4-6 projects over the span of a month or two. Projects are supplemented with articles, podcasts, video clips, and group discussions. To date, I’ve been involved with three different TeamWorks teams, once as a leader and twice as a participant.

This fall I participated in Hands On’s “Focus on Prisons” team that guided us through exploring the successes and shortcomings of the criminal justice system via service. We volunteered at letter-writing parties, visited rehabilitation centers, watched films, and even took a tour of Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Oregon’s only women’s prison.

I also had the privilege of leading the “Discover Portland” TeamWorks this summer. It was designed to introduce our great city to recent transplants via community service. We did quintessential Portland Projects such as the Community Cycling Center and Zenger Farm (both of which I highlight in this post!) and got to spend some quality time getting to know one another.

Currently, I’m participating the “Intentional Holiday Service” team. We are working together to reframe how we experience the holidays – think less stress, more giving, and more joy. We made holiday cards for home-bound seniors and served meals to the homeless this week and will be volunteering at a party for LGBTQ Seniors and working at the Community Cycling Center’s Bike Giveaway this coming weekend. It’s been very centering during this busy time of year!

5) Zenger Farm

When it comes to urban farming, Zenger Farm is where it’s at! Originally a dairy farm purchased by Ulrich Zenger in 1913, Zenger Farm is now  “dedicated to promoting sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship and local economic development through a working urban farm.” They host a number of programs including field trips for schoolchildren, cooking classes, work parties, a chicken co-op, providing food for the Lents International Farmers Market, CSA pick up, and summer camps, just to name a few!

6) Art with Refugee Children at Kateri Park (Catholic Charities)

Want to give back to the community by fostering relationships with refugee children through art? Sign up to “Get Artsy with Refugee Kids,” a program run by Catholic Charities and Hands On Greater Portland. Every Friday afternoon, children line up at the doors of Kateri Park, a transitional housing unit, to take part in art projects organized by the wonderful folks at Catholic Charities. The most recent time I went, we spent the afternoon folding origami animals. It was great fun! It was also so rewarding to see a smile on a child’s face. Click here to read about “Get Artsy” on the Hands On Greater Portland Blog.

So there you have it. That’s my top six! I’ll be sure to share my new favorite volunteer spots as I discover them!

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Kelsey Domann-Scholz is the Program Coordinator in 3CE and also works as the TeamWorks Intern at Hands On Greater Portland. When she’s not busy volunteering she likes to take her dog, Puma, to the dog park and work in her garden. You can reach her at kdomann@lclark.edu

“My name is Isabel Ball and I am a first year student at Lewis & Clark College. It has been an incredibly unique experience to get the chance to volunteer with the 3CE SMART program in just my first semester here. Getting off campus one day a week with my peers to read with elementary school students has helped me in feeling connected to the both the L & C community and the greater Portland community’s non-profits and school districts. Being welcomed with open arms by Woodmere Elementary staff and students has been both motivating and encouraging to me in ways that reach beyond just the experience. SMART is a small time commitment and an excellent way to share the knowledge we are fortunate enough to get here at L & C with kids who deserve all our opportunities and more.”

“My name is Jeff and I’ve worked with kids before, at a climbing gym and a summer camp. I’ve seen how much energy they can have when they get excited. Every time I volunteer with SMART the kids are as excited to read as any I’ve seen climbing a rock wall or playing tag. I feel truly privileged to be able to contribute to these kids’ development in a way that they so enjoy. I must say, their enthusiasm is contagious.”

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Natalie Dole is a Community Engagement Coordinator in 3CE. Jeff and Isabel are volunteers with 3CE’s on-going SMART program.

She was so helpful, too. She had really great answers to all of my questions, and even got me thinking about possible paths within arts administration that I hadn’t even known existed or considered. The meetings are normally thirty minutes, but I got there early and the appointment before me was a no show, so I got to meet with her for an hour. I think we probably could have talked for even longer than that.

And now, I not only know a lot more about the field that I’m interested in, but I have a contact and a starting point for breaking into that field. I think this experience was invaluable, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it had I not known about Alumni Career Corps. You should check it out!

http://college.lclark.edu/offices/alumni/corps/

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Josh Francis is a senior English and Hispanic Studies major and a Community Engagement Coordinator here in 3CE.

by Jacqui Adams

Writing a good resume is like picking out a good bra.

Bear with me, here. There are eerie parallels.

You’re in the lingerie section. It’s awkward. It’s cluttered. There’s a dude over there who looks even more lost than you. Where do you begin?

It’s a forest of choices. Some of them don’t seem to say the right thing. Others look like they’d be a bit of a stretch. All of them are tough to imagine yourself in

You gather together one, then another, draping them over your elbows by the hangers until you’re festooned, piñata-like, with bra after bra after bra. Soon, you have an armload.

You head to the dressing room, trying to feel optimistic. To find the perfect fit takes patience, persistence, and a little bit of chutzpah. You’ve got to be wise. You’ve got to be brave. You’ve got to be bold. You’ve got to think outside the box.

To find the perfect fit, you’ve got to bare all.

When you stare at the vague, cluttered lingerie section of your life and know that you have to find the experiences that will go on your resume and ultimately make or break your job search, you may become intimidated.

Don’t worry. Remember, the best place to start is anywhere.

Just pick something up. Anything. Worked as a camp counselor once? Great. Write it down—bring it to the dressing room. Helped your dad clean his office every weekend? Fantastic. Another one over the elbow—jot that baby down, too.

Did some volunteer work? Played sports? Joined a club? Walked the neighbor’s dog? Organized Grandma’s magazines? Amazing! All of these things and more are fodder for your master list—the big list of activities and doings that you deepen, extend and refine until that list becomes—drumroll, please—Your Resume.

You’ll start out with a huge pile and slowly narrow down your choices. What you want to end up with ultimately is a showcase of your responsibilities and skills—in other words, the tasks that people have entrusted you with, and how you handled those tasks.

No resume springs fully formed from its owner’s skull, ready to tackle the world and snag a nifty calling. What you start with is a big, messy pile of everything you’ve ever, ever done. Ever.

Write it down. Jobs, internships, community service, awards, lab classes, regular classes, workshops, clubs, intensives, hobbies, you name it. Pick those bras off the rack and heap them in a pile. Write it all down in a list. Spare nothing. Spill all. Get naked.

They call it the shotgun method. I call it bra shopping. Call it what you like—it’s the first step to writing a really killer resume.

And you’ve got what it takes.

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Jacqui Adams is a Peer Advisor in the Center for Career and Community Engagement. Need resume help? Want to write a killer cover letter? Jacqui is here for you! She’s available for consultations on Monday from 3-5pm and Wednesday from 3-7pm. Stop by 3CE to sign up.

3CE has seen a great group of volunteers come through Albany this semester!

Our volunteers at down at Operation Nightwatch’s hospitality center are doing great! The hospitality center has been packed full of volunteers and clients throughout the semester. At the beginning of the semester volunteers were slightly harder to come by, and Gary Davis really showed his gratitude for LC volunteers giving us a round of 3 cheers (link). I would like to take the time to thank everyone who has made it down to the hospitality center.

Today I briefly spoke to Juliana DePietro, a LC volunteer that goes down to ONW every Thursday. Juliana had some great things to say about her experience volunteering down at the hospitality center. Despite her busy schedule she said she would never give up her Thursday night shift at ONW. It’s a great time for her to escape from the LC bubble and see a different part of Portland. She said it is an invaluable experience to get to know people from different backgrounds and in different situations. In her time playing scrabble, checkers and chess she’s gotten to know some of ONWs patrons and witnessed their optimism and compassion.

It’s not too late to get involved yourself! ONW still has some open volunteer slots coming before the end of the semester. Check out our volunteer page (link) for more information. Although there no time like the present to get involved, I encourage you all to make volunteering a part of your new years resolution and come into 3CE to see the ways you can get involved.

I came into the trip expecting not to make much of a difference on the building of the community center. Much of the time for community service, it is only the idea that counts, but inexperienced volunteers cannot make an outstanding difference.
However, watching the process of the ditch being shoveled out made me extremely happy. It was our tangible evidence of our hard work as a group. And not only did we reach the goal of our project but we spoke Spanish with Avel, Javier, and others on the job site. I was given the opportunity to feel included in a much greater social movement. I will never forget Javier’s story about how he crossed the border, and personal stories of how others did too. Immigration is not a problem occurring only on the border, but now my life seems connected with it too.
This fall break project shows how social justice is not only one service project or constructing one building. Bettering communities is a way of life. I learned that the problem with immigrants is they have been dehumanized for so long. Witnessing how FHDC works is a statement of the fact that all immigrants are important people who must be treated with respect and given the opportunity to live in healthy environments.
- Isabella Fabens ’15

Leading the Alternative Break Trip to Woodburn Oregon this year with Anna was one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had at Lewis & Clark thus far. Anna was a terrific leader, and it was extremely easy and rewarding to support her to make sure this terrific trip was a success. Our group chemistry was much more dynamic than the group I volunteered with last year. I feel closer to everyone who was a part of the trip! They were a fantastic collection of personalities, experiences, and interests. Javier, Gordo, Gene and the rest of the fantastic people at PCUN were hospitable and kind. Javier has the patience of an angel! He answered every question we posed, and we learned about issues that we had not come into contact with before. They all did a great job of making us feel accepted into the PCUN community.
Javier made a point of allowing us to be creative and independent while working on the site, which is something that many volunteer coordinators do not encourage. Instead of telling us exactly how to complete a project, he asked us to be creative. He knew that we had the knowledge and skills to be successful. Working creatively as a team definitely raised the confidence of many members of our group. They felt more willing to take on leadership roles, which was great!
While working, many of us would engage in conversations that don’t normally come up in casual interaction or discourse. Due to our varied experiences and identities, we had rich discussions about racism, feminism, anarchism, oppression of other sects of people, drug policies, our hopes for different types of social reform, and even just the function of college. I think people felt very comfortable having these talks, which is rare because our society does not typically create conversational spaces where these types of discussions can be had. The sharing of experiences was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was incredible enriching and inspiring to learn from my peers.
Overall, I had a spectacular time. I feel so thankful that I was able to co-lead the trip! I couldn’t have imagined a better cause to volunteer for.
-Laura Houlberg ’14, trip co-leader

In short, the alternative fall break was not what I expected. I was excited to immerse myself in the environmentally sound concepts of the building, and learn more about sustainable construction. I expected some awkward encounters with the few students I did not know, some short tours of PCUN, maybe a brief overview of the work that was to be done – and that would be that. Well that was not the case. First off, the community that was formed between the students was amazing. Within a few short hours, we were all laughing, dancing, and making jokes. But beyond that – we really talked and discussed ideas and concepts with a lot of intensity. Next, when I found myself in a spanish-speaking location, I was slightly taken aback. I quickly realized that there was so much more to PCUN than just a pretty environmentally conscious building. The workers treated us like family, and that by itself really touched my heart. The work that we did was much more meaningful when I learned that we were constructing a leadership facility. We helped lay the foundations for the next generation of leaders. This trip also triggered my passion for the spanish language. I am currently a Spanish 101 student, and now I am even more excited to move forward with my education – and study abroad. Like I said – not what I expected to take away from this trip. But I would not have wanted it any other way – except maybe not having the toilet flood in the morning…
- Mason Wordell, ’15

The Cascade AIDS Project aims “to prevent HIV infections, support and empower people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, and eliminate HIV/AIDS-related stigma.” They are currently seeking four interns for the coming year. Internships are the key to getting your foot in the door of the non-profit world so if you are interested in health, public policy, or non-profit work, consider applying for one of these internships.

Please refer to the following information from http://cascadeaids.org/donate-or-volunteer/volunteer/internship-program for internship descriptions and contact information.