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All 470 members of Hamilton’s Class of 2018 got a peek at the surrounding community when they participated in the 7th annual Hamilton Serves on Aug. 27.  Students spent the morning volunteering at one of 61 local non-profit agencies.  

Courtney Smith ’86, P’16 has created several internship opportunities for Hamilton students this summer through the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation in Lewisburg, W.V. As the executive director of the foundation, Smith contacted local nonprofits to see if any of the organizations would be interested in taking on summer interns. Several offered to host interns and Meredith Garner ’15, Liz DaBramo ’15, and Medjine Lucien ’16— were selected. 

The Hamilton College men's soccer team recently collected and donated more than 1,200 children's books and over 50 Hamilton College men's soccer T-shirts to Denti Elementary School in Rome, N.Y.

The Hamilton Community showed its support for Autism Awareness Month in April.  Team Hamilton raised $2815 for a walk at SUNY IT on April 26.  Along with the Psi Chi contribution of $1,644 from an April 5 walk in Oneida, and $390 raised by selling Autism Awareness ribbons on World Autism Day on April 2, Team Hamilton raised $4849 for the Kelberman Center.

Genevieve Caffrey ’17 and Caroline Kreidberg ’17 recently helped organize the first Animal Rescue Law Forum for Hamilton parent Kevan Cleary P’12. It was hosted by the New York County Lawyers Association. The students set up the social media, press releases, phone calls and emails to interested parties, handled the replies and follow up and worked the night of the event.

Five members of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology, volunteered at the Walk for Autism fundraiser in Oneida on April 5. April is Autism Awareness Month and the walk was held to benefit The Kelberman Center in Utica, a regional center for excellence for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  The center was founded by Michael Kelberman ’80.

Spring break doesn’t just mean fun in the sun for all college students. One-hundred Hamilton students are spending a week of their spring break volunteering at one of 10 nonprofit organizations for Alternative Spring Break (ASB), March 16-28.

Since it started in 2011, the Community Outreach and Opportunity Project, or COOP, has been buzzing with activity. It’s a win-win relationship. Hamilton students want to help their neighbors and effect positive change; and their neighbors, in the greater Mohawk Valley, provide numerous opportunities for activities like tutoring, working in soup kitchens or building houses, to name a few. In fact, the number of interactions with local organizations has grown annually, requiring the COOP to increase the number of it senior fellows.

Thirty-five Hamilton students are teaching Spanish to third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at Clinton Elementary. They volunteer in groups and work closely with the Clinton students to help them improve their language skills and gain an appreciation for foreign languages. Hispanic Studies Teaching Fellow Maria Gabriela Portal and Elisabeth MacColl ’16 run the program, which will continue throughout the semester.

Many college students plan on spending their spring break soaking up the sun on a beach; however, 11 Hamilton students, accompanied by a faculty advisor, plan on volunteering on an organic coffee farm in Nicaragua. The trip is part of Hamilton’s Alternative Spring Break program, a student-run volunteer organization. The coffee farms they will visit—Finca Esperanza Verde or Green Hope Farm—play a large role in the community and economy of San Ramon, Nicaragua.