Institutional News, Local Impact, Student News

Students, Staff Volunteer on Bennington ACTS Day

More than 60 Bennington students and staff members painted, gardened, cleaned, and beautified several sites in the local community last Saturday for the first annual Bennington ACTS Day.

Bennington ACTS Student Volunteers 2010

Coinciding with Global Youth Service Day, Bennington ACTS (Advocating for Community Through Service) was conceived and developed by students who participated in this year's local Field Work Term pilot, a community outreach program that paired 16 underclassmen with 11 area non-profits during the College's annual internship period in January and February. Over the spring term, the students worked collaboratively with community partners to establish projects for Saturday's global service day and recruited their peers to volunteer.

Dozens of student and staff volunteers teamed with community members and partner organizations at six local sites. Projects included painting at 6th Bank Street Homeless Shelter, gardening at the Park McCullough House, beautification work at the North Bennington Graded School, trail maintenance on the Long Trail with the Green Mountain Trail Club, and helping Blooming Chefs—an eco-literacy program for youths and their families—to ready its garden for spring.