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Community Service Bulletin

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Spotlight

Help Teach a Child to Read!

Join ReachOut* and tutor children in reading and writing. Spend a couple of hours a week helping young students improve their literacy skills. Learn more:

ReachOut Tutor Orientation
Friday, February 8
3:30-4:30PM
Room 4-231

Download an application here: web.mit.edu/mitpsc/volunteering/programs/reachout/. Questions? Email reachout-staff@mit.edu.

*ReachOut is a federal work-study eligible program as well as a volunteer opportunity.


One-Time Opportunities

Ongoing Opportunities

Fellowships and Funded Opportunities

One-Time Opportunities

Make a Commitment this Year! Come to the Annual MIT Service Fair! (2/8)
Meet with over 30 local nonprofit agency representatives and MIT student service clubs. Find out what you can do to serve your community. The MIT Service Fair takes place on Friday, February 8, 11AM-2PM in W20-306. Cake, refreshments, and giveaways! Questions? Email Heather in the MIT Public Service Center, trickett@mit.edu.

What’s the Big Idea? Come to the IDEAS Generator Dinner! (2/13)
Want funding for your innovative community service project? Want to recruit new members or mentors for your IDEAS team? Want to get involved, but don't yet have an idea? Want to find out about this year's Yunus Innovation Challenge?

Then come to the IDEAS Generator Dinner and get connected!

Wednesday, February 13
7:30-9:30PM
W20-306 (20 Chimneys)

The Generator Dinner will feature two recruitment open mic sessions with a prize for the best presentation in each category! Pitches must be professional, practiced, and to the point.

Category One: Recruit The IDEAS Dream Team
Category Two: Get Yourself "Hired"
Participants will each have 60 seconds to pitch their projects to the audience. The Generator will include other activities to help everyone get connected with the right teammates (you don't have to give a pitch). Feel free to bring along small prototypes and presentation materials that help describe your project.

Open mic spaces are limited. RSVP by February 11 to ideas-rsvp@mit.edu to sign-up for a 60-second pitch opportunity. Include the following information in your email:

Category One - Recruit The IDEAS Dream Team
Your Name:
Team Name:
Project Summary (50 words maximum):
Recruiting Needs:

Category Two - Get Yourself "Hired"
Your Name:
Reason a team should recruit you (50 words maximum):
Type(s) of projects sought:

Questions? Email Alison, ideas-admin@mit.edu or visit web.mit.edu/ideas.

Develop an innovative project to help a community in need and win up to $7,500 to make your idea a reality!

Connect LEGOĆ Bricks to Make… a … Sugar Molecule? (2/16-17)
Come to the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Conference in Boston with Kathy Vandiver (Edgerton Center outreach) for “Family Science Days” to assist in the American Society of Plant Biologists booth teaching middle school kids about photosynthesis with LEGOÆ bricks.

The Conference takes place at Hynes Convention Center (MBTA green line) on Saturday and Sunday, 16-17 February 16 and 17 from 11AM - 5PM.
For information about the conference, visit www.aaas.org/meetings/Annual_Meeting/2008_boston/program/fsd/.

Assist in illustrating the photosynthesis reaction using LEGOÆ bricks at the booth (4-8 kids at a time). It is on a very simple level.

Kathy Vandiver will be there to teach you the basics and you will have time to visit other booths around the Exhibit Hall.

To find out more, contact Kathy, kathymv@mit.edu, 617-324-0252.

Assemble Print-Braille Children's Books. (3/1)
Collate and check ~500 copies of One Duck Stuck on Saturday, March 1, 9:30AM - 2:30PM at the National Braille Press (NBP) in Boston (two blocks behind Symphony Hall).

One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book is the story of a duck (stuck in the muck) that different groups of marshland creatures, from 2 fish to 10 dragonflies, try to help.

These special print-Braille books enable sighted and blind parents and children to enjoy reading together, an important part of building literacy, even among pre-school-age children. Volunteers will collate plastic, Braille-embossed pages between the print pages, carefully check their work, learn how Braille is produced, and receive an optional tour of the National Braille Press.

This project involves repetitive hand motions while standing most of the time. It requires attention to detail and, like all PMD projects, participation for the entire project time span.

For more information and to sign up, visit www.pmd.org.

Attention Garden Enthusiasts! Fill Seed Orders. (3/5)
Fill orders with discounted/donated seed packets for annual gardeners gathering on Wednesday, March 5, 5:45 - 8:45PM at the Conservation Law Foundation (Downtown Crossing).

New England gardeners typically spend the winter planning for their spring-summer-fall gardens. This includes deciding what to plant. Filling seed orders with seed packets benefits all the community gardens in Greater Boston. This helps the Boston Natural Areas Network ensure the long-term viability of Boston's community gardens. More than 30,000 packets of free seeds will be distributed to the gardens and low-income gardeners.

Seed orders will be distributed at the 33rd annual, free, citywide gathering of community gardeners at Northeastern University on March 22.

For more information and to sign up, visit www.pmd.org.

Ongoing Opportunities

Like Kids? Volunteer with City Year for Kids!
City Year for Kids is a school vacation program that was founded to address the critical civic problem of latchkey children during school vacations. City Year for Kids provides a safe and fun alternative for over 750 Boston Public School children during winter break.

Volunteer with City Year Boston to engage in service with a group of 10-20 Boston students over their winter break (February 18-22).

For more information and to sign up, contact Adam Jass, cyfkboston@cityyear.org, 617-927-2410.

Share Your Love of Science or Math with a Local High School Student.
Tutor one-to-one before, during or after school, at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) Tutoring Center. Become part of a vibrant, diverse educational community to assist a classroom teacher. Tutors particularly needed in all math and science areas. Pick a day and time that works for you. You must, however, register for an orientation.

For more information, contact Cambridge School Volunteers, 617-349-6794, csv@cpsd.us, or www.csvinc.org.

Show Young Girls that Science is Cool!
Volunteer to lead hands-on science activities in a girls only club, once a week for 9 weeks in the spring and bring out the inner scientist in young girls!

The Science Club for Girls is seeking energetic volunteers to serve as Science Club Leaders at their after school programs. They run clubs at 4 Cambridge Public Schools, all T accessible, and it requires only 2 hours a week of your time.

Tuesdays, 2:30-4:30PM at King Open, and 2:10-3:45PM at Fletcher-Maynard
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30PM at Fletcher-Maynard
Thursdays, 2:00-4:00PM at Cambridgeport
Fridays, 2:30-4:30PM at Amigos
*All clubs begin the last week of February.

For more information, contact Kareen Wilkinson, kwilkinson@scienceclubforgirls.org, 617-549-2442. Apply online at www.scienceclubforgirls.org.

Teach People about Safer Sex.
Are you a social person? Like bars, clubs, and cafes? Always wanted to teach people about safer sex? Train to become a safer sex educator by attending the Safer Sexucation Seminar at Fenway Community Health Center. Attend the training on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2, 9AM- 5PM. Training is FREE and breakfast and lunch will be provided. Then, volunteer for as little as 3 hours per month – AND have fun!

For more information and to register for the training, please contact Steven Belec, sbelec@fenwayhealth.org, 617-927-6042.

Mentor and Tutor a Musically and Mechanically Inclined Boy
Tutor an 8 year-old sports enthusiastic child with special needs. Preferred schedule is Wednesday and/or Saturday afternoons in Malden (MBTA orange line), or may be able to arrange sessions on MIT campus.

If interested, contact Dianne Varona Tounkara, 781-322-0053 (H) or 617-605-5821 (M).

Help Print Disabled Students Succeed in their Education.
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic seeks volunteers to digitally record textbooks in a wide variety of subject areas at their studio at 58 Charles Street, Cambridge, near the Galleria Mall, a ten-minute, safe walk from Kendall Square.

Two-hour recording sessions take place daily, throughout the morning and evening. Ultimately flexible scheduling; you record when it is convenient for you. "Last-minute" and "walk-ins" welcomed. There is an acute need for readers in the sciences.

For a complete information kit, email volboston@rfbd.org.

Teach High School Students in Jerusalem!
Join Middle East Education through Technology (MEET) and spend a summer in Jerusalem teaching computer science and entrepreneurship to excelling Palestinian and Israeli high school students, and make a difference. MEET is a high-octane teaching program that brings together top Israeli and Palestinian high school youth into a technology-based curriculum. Instructors receive: all-expenses paid trip to Jerusalem, generous stipend, guided tours of the area, and a chance to interact with some amazing kids! For more information and to apply, visit meet.csail.mit.edu/instructors. Applications are due February 15! Questions? Email info@meet.csail.mit.edu.

Come to the information session on Thursday, February 7 at 5:30PM in room 1-135.

Fellowships and Funded Opportunities

Apply for the $10,000 Peace Project Award!
Davis Projects for Peace is offering a $10,000 award for an MIT undergraduate student project that promotes peace to be implemented in the summer of 2008, anywhere in the world. The aim is to "help young people launch some immediate initiatives that could bring new thinking to the prospects for peace in the world." MIT will select several compelling proposals to send forward. Think creatively, innovatively, and entrepreneurially -- this is a chance to formulate and test your ideas.

Proposals should be emailed to psc@mit.edu by noon on February 8. They should include the following:

-- a detailed two-page, single-spaced proposal (who, what, when, where, how, anticipated outcomes) that includes confirmation of the participation of any partner organizations or people
--a detailed budget for carrying out the project in summer 2008

See www.kwd100projectsforpeace.org for more details about the program.

Have questions? Need help planning or writing? Contact Sally Susnowitz, susnowit@mit.edu.

Earn a $1,000 Education Award!
Join the new Student Leaders in Service Program at MIT!Complete 300 hours of service between February 15, 2008 and February 14, 2009 and receive an AmeriCorps education award of $1,000. Education awards can be used to repay most student loans, to pay tuition, or to pay for other education related expenses. Community Service Work-Study students, students who volunteer regularly, and summer housing grant recipients, all are eligible for this award. The deadline to apply is February 11. Contact Linden McEntire, 617-253-8065 or mcentire@mit.edu for more information.

The MIT Public Service Center is not responsible for the quality or safety of outside service agencies, and does not screen volunteer placements or projects.

The Community Service Opportunities bulletin is published once a week by the staff of the MIT Public Service Center. To access information about previously published opportunities, please visit the archives on the right column. If you have questions, feel free to call us at 617-253-0742, or stop by 4-104.

To be removed from this list, please email psc@mit.edu.

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