Carleton College: Acting in the Community Together: Service at Carleton and Beyond

Service at Carleton and Beyond

Over half of the Carleton student population participates in ACT service projects while at Carleton and a significant percentage of our alumni continue with this service commitment through their support of area non-profits.

Listed below are a few links which may be of interest to students and recent graduates who would like to know more about service opportunities available outside of Carleton. They include grant announcements, job opportunities, and local service organizations.

Corporation for National Service

http://www.cns.gov/ -- The Corporation for National Service is the government organization which runs AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps*VISTA, NCCC, and SeniorCorps. They also act as a grant distribution center and an information clearinghouse.

Echoing Green

http://www.echoinggreen.org/ -- Echoing Green Public Service Fellowships are $60,000 grants awarded each year for people to create a sustainable non-profit organization in conjunction with a current non-profit. Applications are usually available in early Fall and are due in November.

Habitat for Humanity International

http://www.habitat.org/ -- Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization which works to provide affordable housing to families in need. Volunteer and salaried positions are available for both the national and international branches of the organization.

Hennepin County Volunteers

http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us-- Hennepin County provides some great volunteer opportunities in the Twin Cities. Check out their web site. Especially interesting is their "Economic Assistance Volunteer Services" program, where volunteers assist residents in making the transition from welfare to work.

The Hunger Site

www.thehungersite.com -- You can make a difference in the life of a hungry person right now! Click on the Hunger Site. Every time you click on this site, money for several cups of food is donated by the site's sponsors to the United Nations World Food Program. Each computer is allowed one click per day. It is easy and it is legitimate.

Idealist.org

www.idealist.org -- Idealist is a project of Action without Borders. On Idealist you will find over 52,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 165 countries, which you can search or browse by name, location, or mission, thousands of volunteer opportunities around the world, and a nonprofit career center on the web with hundreds of job and internship listings.

Lutheran Volunteer Corps

www.lutheranvolunteercorps.org -- The Lutheran Volunteer Corps is a year-long service program for people 21 and over seeking to unite faith, social justice, community living, and simplicity. Volunteers are matched with non-profit organizations in ten metropolitan areas across the United States. They work full-time in various positions ranging from direct social services, to political advocacy, community organizing, education, and activism while living in intentional community.

Oxfam America

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ -- Oxfam America is a private organization which supports long-term solutions to hunger around the world. They advertise job placements and service opportunities. If you're looking to get out of the United States, this may be worth looking into.

Peace Corps

www.peacecorps.gov -- A two year commitment to serve in a foreign country. The application process is long so check it out early!

Teach for America

http://www.teachforamerica.org/ Teach For America is building the movement to address this injustice by calling upon our country's most promising future leaders to commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and to become lifelong advocates for change.

Global Volunteer Network

http://www.volunteer.org.nz/ The Global Volunteer Network (GVN) offers volunteer service opportunities in community projects throughout the world. We currently provide volunteer programs through our partner organizations in 21 countries.

Cross Cultural Solutions

http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/ Cross-Cultural Solutions was founded in 1995 and is a recognized leader in the field of international volunteering. Each year, over 4,000 people volunteer abroad with CCS in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe in the areas of caregiving, teaching, healthcare, and community development.

Amigos de las Americas

http://www.amigoslink.org/ For more than four decades, Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS) has facilitated transformational community service involving more than 20,000 youth Volunteers and thousands of communities in Latin America. Through our programs, high school and college-aged Volunteers jump in with head, heart, and hands to contribute to health, education, and environmental service projects.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation

http://www.truman.gov -- The Truman Scholarship looks to find and recognize college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the non-profit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in the public service. The scholarship is given yearly to between 75 and 80 college juniors. Recipients receive $3,000 for their senior year and $27,000 for graduate studies. Information and applications are available on their web site. Applications are typically due in January or February.

United Way Twin Cities

One of the best ways to find volunteer opportunities in the Twin Cities is through the United Way. Their web sites also offer information on their services and various ways you can contribute time and/or money. Check out the Minneapolis and St. Paul web site.

http://www.unitedwaytwincities.org

Also, Carleton's Career Center is an excellent resource for internship and career information. They have access to great non-profit databases that can be used for discovering employment opportunities in these fields.

The Northfield Chamber of Commerce also has a web page that may be of interest to students and recent grads.