Hi SOM!

We are thrilled to introduce ourselves to new colleagues and say hello again to those returning to SOM this year, in New Haven and beyond.

Those newer to the SOM community have likely noticed how the School's "&Society" emphasis is woven into many clubs and groups around campus. As the Community Service group (also known as SOM Serves) within Student Government, we are another group dedicated to living out the School's distinctive and meaningful mission. In this message, we will formally describe who we are, the role we aim to play, and our enthusiasm for you to join us.

INTRODUCTIONS

Who are we? We are a student group part of the broader Student Government that aims to coordinate, centralize, and share volunteer opportunities with the SOM community. We, Charlie Gress '21 and Amanda Martinez '22, are writing as your Community Service Co-Chairs on Student Government. As the Community Service Co-Chairs, we organize and facilitate the SOM Serves Committee (see below for the link to get involved!). We keep in close contact with local non-profit organizations, curate monthly events for all kinds of impact (hunger, education, animal welfare, environmental preservation, and more), and create links across broader Yale with other volunteering networks.

Whether or not you apply to join the committee, be sure to join our Slack channel (#som-serves) and sign up on our SOM Serves CampusGroups page to stay up to date on the latest volunteer opportunities.

As of Spring 2020, we are excited to welcome our colleagues Sarah Thompson '21 and Ryan Isakow '21, co-leaders of the Skills-Based Volunteering at Yale group, into the SOM Serves family. You can sign up on the SBVY CampusGroups page to stay up to date with their work!

Given the incredible amount of impact-oriented work that is taking place at SOM, we thought we'd share our view of the landscape with this diagram below. It is certainly not comprehensive of all the social impact opportunities available at SOM and throughout the University, but it includes a few groups that you may have already heard about. Please let us know any questions you may have as you navigate it yourself!

Is it safe to volunteer during a pandemic? You may be wondering how you might be able to safely volunteer this year. Please know that we are mindful of the Guidelines for Community Engagement espoused by the University, and we are actively sourcing opportunities through which we can volunteer entirely virtually. We will also be reviewing and sharing opportunities for in-person engagement, as well. Per the established guidelines linked here, when choosing to volunteer in-person, you are expected to maintain the requirements of the Yale Community Compact to ensure that you do not put at risk the members of the campus community, including the staff and faculty who reside in the City and the surrounding area. If you are ever uncertain about these guidelines, please do reach out to us or AASL.

How can I get involved? You're in luck—we're building our SOM Serves Committee! We're looking for SOM students who are committed to strengthening SOM's relationship with the New Haven community by connecting students with important volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in joining the committee, please fill out this form. While there is a stated deadline of Friday, October 2nd at midnight, we invite folks to communicate their interest through the form or via email any time, particularly as your schedules and availability may change over time.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or ideas for us!

All the best,

Charlie and Amanda

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

SOM SERVES: OPPORTUNITY SPOTLIGHT

• New Haven-based nonprofit Columbus House is looking for drivers that can deliver food to homeless veterans that are being housed in hotels in Middletown and New London. They need these deliveries taken on Tuesdays (driven by folks with a car and valid license). You will be able to drop off the food in the hotel lobby with no contact, complying with COVID-19 regulations. If you're interested, please reach out to Amanda Martinez for the application. You can also learn more on their website: https://www.columbushouse.org/get-involved/volunteer/. (Thanks to Matthew Archuleta '22 for sharing this opportunity!)
• Integrated Refugee & Immigration Services ("IRIS") is an East Rock-based non-profit focused on immigrant/refugee resettlement and rights (https://www.irisct.org). They have openings on Wednesdays for volunteers looking to drop off boxes of food at immigrant/refugee residences. IRIS runs a pantry for their client families; however, due to COVID, not everyone has been able to come by in-person. The role involves picking up food at IRIS HQ and then making 5-6 deliveries per shift (almost always within New Haven). It's low commitment and you can sign-on for one week and see how you like it. The deliveries are all contactless and in compliance with broader public health guidelines. If you are interested, please email bdelahunt@irisct.org and tell her Patrick McGovern referred you and she will get you squared away. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Patrick. (Thanks to Patrick McGovern '21 for sharing this opportunity!)

SKILLS BASED VOLUNTEERING AT YALE: OPPORTUNITY SPOTLIGHT

• SBVY is partnering with the MBA Response (formerly known as MBAs Fight COVID-19) to staff students on short-term (<3 month) projects needing MBA skillsets across the country. There's a huge variety of options, ranging from operations upgrades for food pantries to strategy for startups addressing various parts of the pandemic. This is a great way to apply your MBA (and pre-MBA) in interesting ways, do some social good, and get a taste of different types of roles if you're still exploring. You can sign up with a Yale.edu email here: https://mbaresponse.com/volunteer. Once you've signed up, you'll be able to browse projects, submit a proposal (i.e. your resume and a blurb if you wish), and get started!
• To learn more about the MBA Response, save the date for the next intro webinar next Wednesday, October 7th at 8pm--we'll send out a zoom link to everyone who has joined us on Campus Groups.
• Additionally, sometimes we'll have Yale-specific or time sensitive volunteer opportunities. To join our internal roster of Skills Based Volunteers, complete this form.