Trinidad and Tobago

Just because students are not at Trinity doesn’t mean that service to the community stops, and members of JELLO once again demonstrated that this winter break.

Students escaped the cold New England weather to enjoy a week in Trinidad and Tobago. Fundraising on the part of the students made the trip more affordable and their work with children made the trip more rewarding.

If you are considering a January service trip next year, please keep JELLO on your plate.

Hey Trinity College!

Welcome back to campus this semester. It seems we have been greeted by a winter wonderland this semester as the entire campus is covered in white.

To start the semester the Community Service Office had their activities fair in the basement of Mather. Among the groups that participated were:

Adopt-A-Platoon, Amnesty International, Best Buddies, Book Buddies, ConnectiKids, ConnPIRG, Green Campus, Habitat for Humanity, JELLO, MD Fox Mentoring, Peter’s Retreat, Relay for Life, and Stop the Raids.

If you’re interested in joining an organization and didn’t have the opportunity to come then just come to the Community Service Office!

Best Buddies Thanksgiving Fest!

For those who don't know, Best Buddies is a national non-profit ogranization that is dedicated to providing friendship and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.  Students at Trinity College meet with their Best Buddy a few times a month in pairs and as a group there are events such as the Friendship Walk, Halloween Party, and last weeks ThanksFest!

On Sunday, November 21 Best Buddies came together in the giving spirit of Thanksgiving and made bird houses.  The houses - currently on display in the FACES Lounge, will be donated to home owners through Habitat for Humanity.

Afterwards, everyone shared delicious food.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Green Campus and ConnPIRG's No Drill's, No Spills campaign collaborated to hold energy audits the last full week before Thanksgiving break and the final week of Dorm Wars.
Some of the energy saving tips included:
1. Take colder showers. It will wake you up and actually make you cleaner!
2. Unplug you TV when it is not in use!
3. Take a shorter shower!
4. Brushing your teeth?? Turn off the water!
5. Use a drying rack instead of a clothes dryer

Hey, and outside the college dorm - these tips could mean more money in your pocket.

The goal of the energy audits was to help students learn ways they could make their dorm lifestyle more energy-friendly with the hopes of their building winning the pizza party prize!

On Saturday, Green Campus ended the week with Vigilante Recycling at the Tree House - from 11 pm to midnight.

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

ConnPIRG held their Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign the week before Thanksgiving! Tricia Cavanaugh (2014) made great flyers to encourage students to come to the events.  Volunteers tabled with facts about homelessness and a cardboard house made by Nicole S. (2014).

The week culminated with the SleepOut! The SleepOut was organized by student volunteers to raise awareness about Homelessness and educate about the true faces of homelessness and the need to address affordable housing in Connecticut.
Speakers included Reverend Woods of the Hartford Rescue Mission and Richard Luchansky of Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corporation. Reverend Woods presented his reflections from starting his a food kitchen and shared the recent growth the program has experienced as they expand services to include emergency housing.  After an a Cappella performance with the Trinitones, Richard and Michael spoke powerfully on the invisible faces of homelessness.
Afterwards the students made s'mores, reflected on the themes of the night, and built a huge box fort before going to 'bed' in their sleeping bags.  The next morning one student said, "I was so cold last night, even with the body heat of everyone else in the fort and the huge extra sleeping bags we had over us.  It was a reminder of how important it is to address homelessness in Hartford."

Also, the Amnesty Chapter at Trinity College held the Annual Hunger Banquet on Friday, November 19 - the same night as the SleepOut.  Volunteers flyered for the event which took place in the Washington Room.  Participants 'paid' with a donation of canned goods and/or cash.

Praxis baked almost 200 apple pies for Thanksgiving! Members gathered in Hamlin Hall at 11 am to make the pies, and some assembled boxes for delivery.  Volunteers got to see the insides of the Mather bakery and the huge, commercial oven that was used to make the pies.  As a few volunteers took the pies out after an hour, they enjoyed the delicious smells!

Another group on campus, Habitat for Humanity, completed their third build of the semester that same day.  Ten volunteers met and carpooled to the build site in Hartford, where volunteers worked with two families in building a house.

Habitrot and Relay!

After weeks of planning, over a hundred students participated in this years Habitrot and the group raised more than 12,000 dollars! That means that this years Habitrot raised more money than any other in years past.
What made the event a success? Habitat for Humanity members tabled for the event the week before, and students from frats or sororities, dorms, and other service groups formed teams.
Also, some Professors gave extra credit for participating! Are you a science major who needs some motivation to train? Keep in mind for next year that Professor Curran and Professor Niciase in the Chemistry Department offers extra credit to those students who can beat him in the 5 k race.  Hmm considering the Chemistry team had the most participants by far, there were many hopefuls! 



Tuesday night, Relay for Life held a very successful Ice Cream Social! Members of the Trinity Community were able to sign up as Relay for Life Fundraisers with five dollar donations, and everyone got hyped up about the main event, which will be in the Spring. Currently there are 35 teams signed up.

Halloween on Vernon

The 20th annual Halloween on Vernon this year was a success. A week before the holiday over 200 children from Hartford were chaperoned along Vernon Street by enthusiastic volunteers.  Groups visited cultural houses, Greek houses, and other organizations.  The event ended at Vernon Social Center, where volunteers from different campus organizations helped children decorate cookies, fish for candy, and toss bean bags, and everyone went home with huge amounts of candy!


Morris Jalloh, 2012 showcasing his face painting skills!



Trinity students who participated had just as much fun as the children!!

Outside Praxis Jessica Nunes, 2013 and Yoda