Regardless of the amount of people that live in the community during the summer, the needs for help are still great.

Organizations like CARE Animal Shelter, Habitat for Humanity and the Douglas Hart Nature Center are just a few of the organizations that will be working with Eastern’s Student Community Service this summer in an effort to improve the Charleston and Mattoon communities.

Rachel Fisher, Interim Director of Student Community Service, pointed out that this part of the year may be more convenient for people in the community to volunteer.

“This is a great time for those of us on campus-faculty, staff and students-to find some ways to get involved,” Fisher said.

On Saturday, May 30, Student Community Service helped Habitat for Humanity with their build blitz, helping build a house at the intersection of 11th Street and Vine Street. Charleston residents and volunteers from Eastern helped bring a total of about 80 volunteers to work on this project, according to Fisher.

“It’s the highest number of volunteers we have had on a site,” said Chris Sims, Habitat’s volunteer coordinator.

Service projects that are sponsored by the Student Community Service group primarily focus on the Charleston and Mattoon communities, but can also venture out a little further.

During a time that may bring less stress and fewer responsibilities to Eastern’s faculty, staff and students, Fisher hopes that some may use this time to look into volunteerism efforts in hopes of helping to further improve and develop their communities.

“The more engaged you are in the community, the more care and interest you take in it,” Fisher said. “So we highly encourage students, faculty and staff to engage in the Charleston and Mattoon communities.

So far, Fisher has noticed that the most heavily populated volunteerism events are those that offer direct contact with other people. She says that this seems to be evidence that people like to help others.

“People like to help other people,” said Fisher, “and sometimes we just don’t have the mechanisms in place to allow us to. We (the Student Community Service) are that middle person that’s going to take care of it.”

Acknowledging that many students lead busy lives and may have some obstacles that can deter them from volunteering, Fisher also stated that students should not allow things such as transportation or time to get in the way of helping an organization. Community service allows those who partake in it to see things through another’s perspective.

Fisher also stressed that there is no particular set of skills that a student should have in order for them to be helpful.

“I’m not a skilled carpenter, but I’m able to really help at Habitat,” Fisher said. “The skill you need is the willingness to help.”

“I am totally ecstatic about the direction the university is taking,” Sims said. “It’s nice to see so many people care about other people.”

Spenser Nobles can be reached at 581-7943 or [email protected].