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Community Outreach

Special Projects

Coins for a Cause

Coins for a Cause campaign is a way to raise money for a philanthropy or charity of choice done in collaboration with Dining Services, Community Outreach, and a UConn student organization. Each month spare change is collected through donation boxes located in all of the UC café’s throughout the campus. At the end of the month all of the change is then collected, counted and then a check is sent to the designated philanthropy. This is a quick and easy way to donate a substantial amount of money.

To get involved review the guidelines and requirements. Should your organization meet these specified requirements submit an application to Kevin Mabry at kevin.mabry@uconn.edu. A link to the guidelines and application is below.

Special Olympics

The Special Olympics “is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition” (Special Olympics mission statement). Community Outreach supports Special Olympics through ongoing opportunities. Volunteering opportunities are offered all year long at events such as the Polar Plunge, Chowder Fest, and primarily the UConn Husky Classic Invitational.

The 2nd annual Husky Classic Invitational is a Unified Sport soccer tournament which will be taking place in mid-April. This soccer invitational combines equal numbers of individuals with and without intellectual disabilities on the same sports team for training and competition.

Currently we are looking for individuals to help organize, support a team and plan event details on a committee. If you are interested in being involved in this growing UConn spring tradition then email kevin.mabry@uconn.edu to receive more information on meeting times.

Tunnel of Oppression

The Tunnel of Oppression is a series of rooms designed to advance and disseminate knowledge about issues of oppression and encourage participants to reflect upon the questions raised by hatred and ignorance. This program illustrates the struggles of others while looking at current egregious acts that occur in our nation and around the world. Participants in the program are led on a guided tour through eight “rooms of oppression” and then participate in a short, facilitated debriefing/processing of their experience. Individual rooms will be focused on the following issues:

  • Racism
  • Substance Abuse
  • Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault
  • Aids/HIV and STDs
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Eating Disorders
  • Suicide/Depression
  • Broken Systems

This program will be running the following dates and times:

  • Tuesday, November 6th from 1:00 - 6:00
  • Wednesday, November 7th from 10:00 - 2:00

Groups of 8-10 will be guided through the experience every ten minutes starting at the top of each hour.

Staff & Student Leaders interested in getting involved:

Facilitators must have experience with conflict management and cultural competency and will need to have experience leading groups in open discussions around these topics. There is a two hour minimum commitment during the designated program time and all staff and student leaders will be asked to attend a training session on the evening of Monday November 5th. To sign up contact Gina DeVivo Brassaw at gina.devivo_brassaw@uconn.edu or Kevin Mabry at kevin.mabry@uconn.edu.

Day at the Statehouse

The Day at the Statehouse is a day long event where UConn students will have the opportunity to both tour the Statehouse and discuss politics with state government staff, lobbyists, and other political advocates. It is aimed to familiarize students with the process of how laws are made and how they can directly impact political issues through advocacy and involvement.

This year’s Day at the Statehouse will take place on February, 21st. To learn more about this event and to sign up for this years Day at the Statehouse contact Jennie Spiegel at jennie.spiegel@uconn.edu.

Advocacy

Community Outreach looks to support and enhance involvement of UConn students in civic engagement through new and ongoing programs, co-sponsorship of events, trainings, conferences, co-sponsorship of events and advertisement of community civic engagement and service opportunities. If you are interested in doing something about the big issues that affect us all, contact Noopur Vyas at noopur.vyas@uconn.edu.