To the Dartmouth community service project family that includes 'ShmenCORPS and DarCORPS now comes 'MoreCORPS, a series of weekend service projects sponsored by the Student Assembly.
'MoreCORPS will consist of three upcoming Saturdays -- July 31, August 7 and August 14 -- where members of the class of 2001 can volunteer from 12-3 p.m. at a variety of sites, including David's House, DHMC, and retirement homes.
Besides the community service aspect, Assembly Summer President, and the creator of the 'MoreCORPS idea, Jorge Miranda '01 said the goal of 'MoreCORPS is to bring people together.
"It's an opportunity for a lot of different people to meet each other and do a little community service work," he said.
The group held a pilot program last Saturday which consisted of members of Greek houses, including Chi Gamma Epsilon and Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, as well as members of Allianza Latina.
Kelly Walker '01, who is coordinating 'MoreCORPS for the Assembly stressed that this will be a program open to the whole class and that in the following weeks, everyone will be invited to participate through BlitzMail solicitations, invitations to campus organizations and posters.
Miranda says that while it is modeled on the other similarly named service projects, this one makes central the goal of different people and groups interacting.
The idea came to him when he realized he would like to do more community service this summer, and also when he realized how many people on campus he still didn't know well.
In addition, he said many locations around Hanover need help continuously, and that several weekends throughout the summer will help students reach as many places in need as possible.
Miranda said 'MoreCORPS shares an advantage with 'ShmenCORPS, the first-year service day held during Orientation. Having an entire class excited about the idea, Miranda said, is key in getting the program up and running.
"It's summer, the weather is nice, it's the second time we're all together on campus, it's a great time to go out."
Coed Fraternity Sorority Council Programming Liaison Lindsay Reich '01 said the CFSC greeted the idea enthusiastically when it was proposed at a meeting. "It got a great response," she said.
Reich hopes every house will have the chance to have its members participate in one of the weekends' volunteer options. Greek students are encouraged to sign up with their houses, each of which is assigned a weekend to volunteer, Reich said.
In order for CFSC houses to get credit for participating in the project under programming guidelines, however, over 50 percent of a house's members need to be in attendance.
