Staff and Students Volunteer for Emerson Action Day

On Veterans Day, the Office of Off-Campus Student Services hosted its annual Emerson Action Day, a day devoted to community service throughout Boston. This year, 35 students and staff members completed more than 100 hours of community service at the following sites: Community Servings, Citizens Schools, Hale House, ReVision Urban Farm, Haley House, and Operation Appreciation.

The day was a huge success and provided Emersonians with some great ways to give back. A special thank you to staff members Samantha Neary (OCSS), Ashley Tarbet DeStefano (Elma Lewis Center and Academic Engagement and Community Action), Rhea Becker (Communications and Marketing), Robert Fleming (Iwasaki Library), Amber Danku (OCSS and Campus Center), and Tara Jacobsen (Academic Engagement and Community Action), who took part in the day’s events.

Bob Fleming worked at Haley House in Dudley Square. Since he has used the organization’s catering services at the library, he wanted to learn more about it. “What I discovered was a program that uses two of my favorite activities (cooking and eating) to build community and help at-risk urban youth to chart a path to a successful future,” he said. He worked with Emerson students to assemble kitchen equipment for a new test kitchen in the Haley House building.

Ashley Tarbet DeStefano, Rhea Becker, and Tara Jacobsen volunteered at Revision Urban Farm in Dorchester. Becker said that the group planted garlic, pulled irrigation lines out of the fields, and spruced up an equipment shed. Reflecting on the experience, Tarbet DeStefano said, “We had so much fun at ReVision helping to prepare the fields for next year’s planting and growing season.”

By Jill Davidson (Academic Affairs)