Riley WilliamsPicture this: You’re a student at N.C. Central University. The semester is halfway over, but you still have 15 hours of required community service to complete for the term. Scrolling through Get Connected, NCCU’s online portal for volunteering opportunities, you sign up for an event the following week.
The day arrives, but you can no longer attend and forget to unregister for the volunteering shift. No big deal, right?
Wrong. For local organizations that rely on volunteers, not showing up for an event could have a negative effect. This was the case last year for “Surrounded By Love,” a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in Durham that provides advocacy, financial and emotional support for families affected by childhood cancer.
“I had at least six students sign up and none of them showed up,” said Ebony Jones, founder and director of “Surrounded By Love, recalling a busy fundraising event last summer. “I had to call in one of my regular volunteers, and it was just her and I.”
“We can lose our contract [with that venue] if we don’t bring the people we say we’ll have.”
Jones added that this specific venue had a policy in place that charged money for each registered person who didn’t show up. So, if she was short any number of expected volunteers, her organization would be fined.
At the end of the year, she said they lost $3,000 from volunteers not showing up.
“It’s a lot – That’s $3,000 that I can’t give a family,” Jones said. “That’s what I really try to educate the students [about]. You have to be willing to communicate.”
“We’re only three years into the way we’ve been fundraising, so it’s a learning curve. Everyone needs to hold themselves accountable to their commitments.”
The university offers different ways for students to earn service hours, including practicum courses, on-campus events and more. More than 166,000 service hours were completed in the Fall 2023/Spring 2024 semesters, according to the Office of Community Engagement and Service.
Haley Moore, a junior interdisciplinary studies and English double major, is one of Jones’ regular volunteers. Moore noted that it did put a strain on the rest of the team when other student volunteers didn’t honor their commitments.
“I’ve been there when some volunteers didn’t show up,” Moore said. “Ebony was such a great leader, and she’s also compassionate so she understands. It made a difference in the community.”
“It was just great, and I recommend it to anybody, even if you don’t need the hours, but if you want to make a difference.”
Conducting service work in the community connects to the school’s motto,“Truth and Service,” and is a required component of graduation for all first-degree and transfer undergraduate students.
Traditional four-year students must complete 120 hours of community service with their degree.
“We definitely have a whole lot of signups,” said Danyetta Lee, secretary at W.G. Pearson Elementary School, another Durham organization that regularly hosts NCCU volunteer opportunities. “We’re excited to see that the students from Central want to come in and work with the kids.”
“Most of the volunteers who sign up do come in, and have been coming in pretty regularly.”
Lee said that most NCCU volunteers end up working directly with the elementary students, or in the Pearson food pantry sorting donations.
“I think it’s really great,” she said. “They come from college and show our kids ‘hey, you can do it too.’”
Jones also said that her overall experience with NCCU volunteers was positive.
“I’m so happy about the connections that I made, and the connections that each student made with each other that have continued on,” Jones said. “If you avoid uncomfortable situations, and if you avoid communication you’re gonna be a stronghold in life, period.”
“I want to encourage communication. Avoiding the opportunity, or situation, is never going to help.”
