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WW University's Center for Humanitarian Engagement By Karlene Ponti

June 17, 2020

Being kind and loving to each other hasn’t lost any meaning. Perhaps it’s quite the opposite. In the challenging year of 2020, a return to basic values may be a source of strength for many. Acting on this, a non-profit at Walla Walla University encourages kindness and service.“The Center for Humanitarian Engagement, CHE, at Walla Walla University carries out generosity and kindness through service to the community,” said David Lopez, the center’s executive director. “Generosity in service is one of four core themes the university upholds, and CHE is proud to promote a campus-wide lifestyle that nurtures service by equipping its WWU campus with service-oriented tools, resources, and opportunities throughout our communities local and afar.“Determined to help WWU students find a calling, not just a career, the CHE works to build long-term relationships with the community and introduces WWU students with specific passions and skills to meet the needs of individuals, businesses, and other businesses in the community.”Participation is focused on engaging students, faculty and staff, and local community members are encouraged to participate with the organization.“Some of the projects we have done have just been the catalyst for community involvement,” Lopez said. “For example, CHE hosted a service day where all classes at WWU were canceled in order for them to participate in random acts of kindness and service off-campus and throughout the community. One act of service led students, faculty, and staff to assist the city of Walla Walla to clean and preserve artwork under (U.S. Highway 12) near Washington Park.”Commitment to Community volunteers usually do this work, so this became a partnership, doubling the number of volunteers made up of students, as well as volunteers from the community.

Lopez is the only full-time employee at CHE, but the plan is to expand the team in the next year.“Throughout the school year, we also employ and provide jobs for WWU students, during the spring quarter of 2020, we employed 20 students part-time,” Lopez said. “On Service Day, we recruited more than 700 students to participate. During the flood relief efforts earlier this year, we logged more than 7,000 volunteer hours through the CHE. Each weekend we have 30-40 volunteers involved in one of our service or kindness activities.”A few years prior to the Center for Humanitarian Engagement opening in September 2018, John McVay, president at Walla Walla University, launched a series of focus groups with students; the results showed a desire and need for a group to provide a way for students to participate in opportunities for service experiences and leadership skill development.“Starting something new is always a challenge, from getting the word out about our efforts, activities, and projects. But, we have successfully carried out several service projects both here in the Walla Walla Valley and beyond to other communities in need,” Lopez said. A great success so far has been a weekly volunteer activity called C.A.R.E., Community Action Relief Experience Weekends. These can include activities like creating and bringing care packages to medical professionals, picking up groceries and other necessity items for the elderly, or simply participating in a self-created campaign to show kindness to a stranger.“CHE also helped carry out a Love Heals Clinic last year,” Lopez said.” With dentists, medical and vision professionals donating and volunteering their time, the two-day clinic was able to serve more than 700 people with dental, medical, and vision needs here in the Walla Walla Valley.”The pandemic changed CHE’s plans as it did with everything else. Two events in the spring had to be canceled.

But the projects became remote endeavors.“Instead of reducing our projects, we pushed forward and hired nine more students as CHE ambassadors to help develop six new COVID initiatives. With these positions, we ended up focusing more on engagement opportunities that could be done remotely,” he said. The most popular by far has been Project Send Hope.“It is still difficult for us to establish plans as circumstances are still rapidly changing as a result of COVID-19, but WWU is currently planning to resume in-person classroom instruction for the fall quarter of 2020,” he said. Students coming back to campus will help CHE, according to Lopez, because they will be able to return to community service activities that have been difficult or impossible to do remotely.“If we are still in Phase 2 or 3 of opening up, we will have to continue in creating more virtual options that might not be as exciting to students who have shown to prefer direct, face-to-face service opportunities,” he said.

Find out more at https://www.wallawalla.edu/news/detail/news/ambassadors-of-hope

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