Volunteering organizations and students met at exhibition
Bike rides with elderly. Practical help at disabled people’s social activities. Distribution of equipment and contingents for children in vulnerable families. Bartending in the student’s own bar.
This is just to name a few of the opportunities for students to engage in voluntary work.
on 2nd May, some of these opportunities were showcased at the exhibition at UC SYD - University College South Denmark. In for Care helped arrange the exhibition, as it is working to promote volunteering. The main project is to develop a digital tool which helps volunteers engage in difficult conversations with vulnerable citizens. But on May 2nd the aim was to support the effort of making students at the university college aware of the many possibilities of volunteering.
Lots of opportunities
People from more than 20 volunteering organizations explained about their work to students passing by. Among others Anders Nordby. He is studying to become an occupational therapist.
"I found out that there are lots of volunteering organizations. I didn’t know, but when you see them you can get surprised about the amount of organizations", he said.
And that was the plan according to Britt Schack Hansen, who helped organize the exhibibtion. She is general manager of Frivillighuset Vindrosen, which organizes all the volunteering organizations in Esbjerg.
"The students at UC SYD is an important target audience for us. We would like to let them know about the opportunities", says Schack Hansen, pointing to some of the advantages students and other people gain from volunteering:
"They make a difference to others, and it is generally self-satisfying for people to help".
Especially for students volunteering can have lots of positive side effects.
"You get to know a lot of new people which can help a lot of newcomers settle in", Schack Hansen points out.
Both a student and a volunteer
Gitte Poulsen is both a student and a volunteer. She is studying to become a social worker and is chairman at an organization which pays contingents and equipment for children who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend football, swimming or other activities.
"I experience a lot and I get to know about how life can be for other families. You get confronted with how hard life can be for others. On top it is a huge joy to see how happy the children get, when we occasionally go and buy equipment for them", she explains.
"And volunteering also looks good on the resume", she adds.