From the November 2011 issue of the Close to Home e-newsletter.
A day of golf may sound like a walk in the park, but for those who participated on a warm Friday in June, the goal was much more than a hole-in-one. The Third Annual Students First Funds Golf Tournament, sponsored by Simplex Grinnell, was held to benefit the Students First Fund: Community Service at the University Club in North Windham on June 3.
Scott Gallo, the associate director for operations for Residential Life, has helped to run the tournament the past three years with Jen Brodie and Cathy Downs in the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs. Simplex Grinnell, the company that supplies the University’s life safety equipment, sprinklers, fire alarms, smoke detectors and other equipment that keeps students safe, was the presenting sponsor of the tournament this year.
“This is one of the many ways our division reaches out to students,” Gallo says. “We have students who are giving up an opportunity to go on a traditional spring break, instead choosing to go to places where they can help other people in need. And they are paying for it out of their own pockets, and really making a commitment to others.”
Proceeds from the tournament, which attracted a number of alumni attending Alumni Weekend as well as faculty, staff and many other sponsors, will help to fund service programs that enable students to participate in alternative spring break service, weekly service programs in the community and special service projects. The tournament attracted 101 golfers in 2009, its first year, and made $14,000; this year, it hosted 133 golfers and raised more than $15,000.
The day of the tournament, golfers heard from a UConn student, rising senior Tom McGee of Deep River, Conn., who is heavily involved in community service work, including leading the Community Service Days program, which connects Connecticut agencies and students through one-time volunteer projects, and working with UConn students in volunteering more than 4,000 hours of service to Connecticut community partners. He also served as volunteer coordinator for two Special Olympics initiatives, participated in alternative break trips to Philadelphia and Atlanta and helped with the Food Recovery Project, which works with UConn Dining Services to collect excess food for the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic.
“Freshman year, I joined the Community Service Learning Community to make UConn smaller, to have a group of people I was living with and taking classes with who had the same interests I had,” he says. At that point, he decided he wanted to take a more active role in community outreach.
“It’s really rewarding,” he says. “It’s really important to get an active education, to take what I learn in the classroom and direct it toward experience. I want to find a balance between making a living and having a giving-back mentality.”
The golf tournament’s profits will help even more students toward those goals this year. Says Gallo, “It always feels good to give, and it feels good to have everyone enjoy the day.”
Those interested in supporting Students First may give to either of these two funds at giving.uconn.edu.
Students First Fund: Community Service (#22788) - To support service trips & community service initiatives of the Division of Student Affairs. Fund may underwrite programmatic expenses, including, without limitation, the costs associated with trips, which afford students valuable opportunities to engage in University outreach and service to the community.
Students First Fund (#22522) - To enable the University to demonstrate to our students that they are an important and valuable part of our community through outreach initiatives in times of need. Priority uses for the fund will include providing items to meet students' needs following unforeseen misfortunes such as, without limitation, a death in the family, loss of employment, illness, fire, flood, theft, etc.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
2012 Students First Fund Golf Tournament (link)
June 1, 2012
University Club
North Windham, CT
