USAC’s second annual Worldwide Volunteer Day gives back to its global communities.
The University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC)’s global outreach effort, Worldwide Volunteer Day on April 22, celebrated Earth Day in a beautiful way — through sustainability efforts and community engagement. This second annual event also focused collectively on the central aspect of USAC’s Green Pact initiative: actively reducing the organization’s carbon footprint and promoting community sustainability and cultural immersion.
For this year’s event, USAC staff, students, and educators volunteered at schools and community markets, served meals, donated clothing and food items, cleared public beaches, gardens, and trails, and educated others on valuable sustainability aspects.
Explore some of the ways our global students and staff contributed below.
Canada
Vancouver, Canada
Sabrina Harris from USAC Strategic Initiatives and her son cleared several bags of trash and debris from Kitsilano “Kits” Beach, one of Vancouver, B.C.’s most popular beaches. They found their cleanup was necessary after a busy holiday weekend, making the effort even more meaningful during a chilly, windy day.
Chile
USAC Santiago students and staff volunteered at a church’s soup kitchen. They fried and prepared mackerel burgers with rice, salad, and dessert, organized lunch boxes, and distributed them to people in need. The students said they felt blessed to be able to give to the community and were thankful for this opportunity.
China
Shanghai, China
USAC Shanghai students and staff, along with two Chinese language instructors and four Chinese student language partners, organized an interactive Earth Day activity called “Together for a Greener World.” This promoted sustainability awareness through art and community engagement along the Xuhui Riverside Greenway eco-trail.
Participants learned environmental vocabulary in both Chinese and English to create posters and paintings, which they used to engage international visitors and residents along the trail. Eco-themed stickers were also handed out, and the community was invited to participate in poster making and bilingual learning, sparking conversations about environmental awareness.
Fun fact: Simmons — an American mattress brand known for its commitment to sustainability — was also hosting an Earth Day campaign focused on glacier protection at the eco-trail.
France
Pau, France
USAC Pau students and staff volunteered their time during “Pau Propre,” a community event led by Pau City Hall employees, to clean alongside a neighborhood street and sort waste for recycling.
“It was nice to participate with other people who love their community, take care of a neighborhood where we have French friends, and to give back to the community. I liked being active and speaking French heading towards a common goal with local people,” Clara Holmes, a USAC Pau and Christopher Newport University student, says.
Italy
Torino, Italy
Twenty USAC Torino students and staff visited the SERMIG, a nonprofit organization dedicated to receiving and sending donations, humanitarian aid, food, and clothing to people in need in Torino and around the world.
The students and staff donated used clothes and food items, such as pasta, tuna, and sauces, and sorted donated clothing. Students said they were grateful to help those in need, learn more about what SERMIG does, and that they left with a newfound perspective on how life circumstances impact communities.
Viterbo, Italy
USAC Viterbo students were busy in the weeks leading up to Worldwide Volunteer Day, holding food drives to collect donations. On Volunteer Day, USAC students visited Emporio Solidale, the solidarity supermarket, and donated the items they had collected. Similar to farmers’ markets, solidarity markets offer discounts to improve residents’ access to fresh, local, and affordable food.
Reggio Emilia, Italy
USAC Reggio Emilia students volunteered at Emporio Dora, a volunteer-run mini-market that supports people and families in need. The market operates a points-based system, where customers can purchase food from local businesses and farmers using monthly budgeted points. This initiative helps reduce waste and supports the community.
Students help serve customers and check out their groceries throughout the day, and learned how the market is managed. Students learned more about community engagement, teamwork and collaboration, and gained an understanding of the topics of sustainability and food recovery through their volunteer experience.
Spain
Alicante, Spain
USAC Alicante students cleaned debris, trash, and other unnatural materials from Tabarca Island. As a popular tourist area — and the only inhabited archipelago of the Valencian community — there is a higher likelihood of human impact on the land and water. Students spent several hours volunteering their time to its beautification.
Madrid, Spain
USAC Madrid cleaned a local park during Volunteer Day.
Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand
USAC Chiang Mai students and staff, Thai Buddies (local students who help American students adapt to the Thai lifestyle), teachers, schoolchildren, and residents volunteered at Ban Sanphakwan school. This municipal school in the southern suburb of Chiang Mai provides free education, ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, to all students regardless of nationality, gender, or age. Most of the students are children of migrant workers, mainly from Myanmar and diverse hill tribe ethnic groups.
In the upcoming school year, the school is expected to receive an increased number of first- and second-grade students from areas of conflict between Myanmar and Thailand. The volunteers cleaned and restored a music and art room, a classroom, and a computer room, helping to prepare them for the new school year.
United States
Reno, Nevada
More than 30 USAC Central Office staff pitched in to clear debris and weeds from the pollinator garden at the Nevada Farms and Families area of Rancho San Rafael Park. Beautification efforts also keep the pollinator garden healthy for the local ecology, including the resident fowl — Cranberry, the turkey, and Max Volume, the rooster.
