Residence halls gear up to help out non-profits

What started last year with an idea from senior Brittney Paulk has turned into a campus-wide fight against poverty.

Paulk started Adopt a Nonprofit, a program where every residence hall is paired with a Bloomington nonprofit. Throughout the year each dorm will work with the needs of its partner organization, Paulk said.

Paulk, a residential assistant, said she was inspired by the New Student Service Day at the beginning of the year. She loved the work the students were doing with the various groups, but knew the organizations they were working with needed continual help.

“I thought what was being done for the service day could be done on a much bigger scale,” Paulk said.

Paulk said she has always had a passion for service. It was that passion she wanted to pass on to other students. When making the program, she said  she wanted to build awareness of charitable organizations and build student leadership skills.

“I really wanted to introduce students to volunteer work,” Paulk said.

Paulk pitched Adopt a Nonprofit to Residential Programs and Services eight months ago, said Bob Weith, director of residential operations administration. Once RPS approved the program, Weith said, a panel of residential assistants chose a theme.  

“We needed an issue that was timely,” he said. “So poverty came to mind.”

Once poverty was agreed on as the theme, RPS partnered with the Resident Hall Association to find which organizations to work with, Weith said. RHA asked students for their opinions, Paulk said.

All 11 dorms have a nonprofit organization to work with, although not all have started working with them, Weith said. Once all the residence halls get started, Paulk said, they will be involved with very different activities.

“Each residence hall is unique in the ways they implement the program,” Paulk said.

The needs of the organization will dictate what the residence halls will be doing. If an organization needs volunteers then the students will volunteer, if the organization needs a food drive than the dorm will put on a food drive, she said.

“That is why this program is so cool,” Paulk said. “It totally forms to what the nonprofit needs.”

Collins Living-Learning Center works with the Middle Way House, which helps victims of domestic dispute and sexual assault. Toby Strout, executive director of Middle Way House, said without the volunteers from Collins, they could not fulfill their mission.

Strout said working with an identifiable group like IU usually gets better and more dedicated volunteers.

“From my perspective, Collins and RPS are owed a big thank you for their help,”
she said.