Volunteer Spotlight: Rutgers University’s Student Volunteer Council

A couple weekends ago, SBP in New Jersey had the pleasure of welcoming Rutgers University’s (New Brunswick campus) Student Volunteer Council. Many of the students in the group grew up in New Jersey and many members of the Rutgers community was impacted by Hurricane Sandy, which helped influence their decision in volunteering with us. 

One of the volunteers explains how “Sandy Relief is one of [their] most popular and successful services because of the lasting memories of what Sandy did. Sea Bright was a perfect choice for [them] because it allowed [their] group to easily and effectively volunteer to make an impact on restoration.” Sixteen members came in early Saturday morning to complete task, such as putting up drywall and applying Spackle in one of the homes. 

Despite the weather being cold and windier than they expected it to be they worked hard throughout the day to get the job done with the help of their site supervisor, Koffi Ayi. “I think what made our volunteer experience so great was really our site leader. He was very determined to give our volunteers a meaningful experience, and was really a pleasure to be around,” says one of the student volunteers. 

Most of the members agreed that what made this experience unique was that their site leader truly allowed for them to get the most out of their experience. A piece of advice Rutgers University Student Volunteer Council has for future volunteers is to “plan out everything ahead and maybe research about what you will be doing.” 

Thanks for all your hard work Rutgers University Student Volunteer Council -- we hope to see you out here again soon!