Our group at Boston University is always looking for different things to get involved in within our community. I think especially after the pandemic hit, we lost a lot of the connection that we had had before the pandemic with different groups that we’ve worked with. And so we’re just trying to figure out different places that we can get involved in.
Perkins has been extremely receptive to us and made it very easy. We sent out probably thirty to forty emails to different organizations all over Boston. And Perkins was one of the ones that was super excited to have us, super receptive, super kind. That’s how we first got involved here and it’s been such a wonderful time, every time but we love coming back. And so we always do come back. And it’s nice to know that we’re helping.
Lisa and Kayla are always so appreciative of everything. It’s nice to be able to come and we’ve gotten to know a lot of people here. So that’s really great.
We try to volunteer at least once a month for mainly group workdays and events like Everybody In! Walk/Move for Perkins which we supported for our second time with VIA members in the fall of 2022. We are willing to support whatever is needed.
A lot of the green space cleanup has been a lot of fun. We enjoy getting to go outside and we’ve done raking and bulb planting, among others. I’m very excited to see those come out when we come back in April. Painting the International House was very fun as well. We got to wear the little marshmallow suits to protect our clothes and I thought it was charming and we got to directly appreciate the results of what we were doing.
We have learned so much about the school and about what the school does. It’s such a wide-reaching organization with all the different countries that Perkins helps, and all of the different people, and Perkins has so many different programs. Perkins has the students who live here and go to school here. But Perkins also has all the programs where they bring people in. I think every time we volunteer we learn about something new that Perkins does. It always feels good to know that we’re contributing to that work in some small way.
Perkins has been extremely receptive to us and made it very easy to volunteer.” -Nicole
I think, personally, because I tend to bring pretty substantial groups of students for BU, it has taught me leadership in managing a large group. I think Perkins has also helped me develop my social skills. I’m generally more introverted, but coming here often has gotten me to be a lot more outgoing because I get to engage with all these different people. Talking to Lisa and Kayla, who manage the volunteer program is always wonderful. I know my treasurer Sophie has found this experience important as well, and she is now actually looking to possibly work here after she graduates.
I have to say the environment, which I love, especially on the group work days. It’s always fun getting to work with everybody and hang out. And it’s nice to know that we’re always doing something that contributes to Perkins and the school overall, even when we might not be directly involved with the students here. We know we’re still doing something impactful. And so I think a lot of the other stuff that we do in our group at BU we’re working directly with our participants who come to our events, and that’s a wonderful thing, but it’s nice to be able to also help indirectly.
The first time we came to volunteer here. we helped out with the first Everybody In! Walk/Move for Perkins and in our role, we got to hold the signs that were created by the students. They were so cute, I loved the little artwork. We got to hold them up and we went down the street. Our main job was to encourage the people walking so we had so much fun with it. As we were standing on the corner, we were holding up our signs yelling and cheering. There was a police car parked on the corner near us and he ended up playing music through his car radio speaker from the corner. It was just such a fun time! Everybody was so happy and cheering and that was a moment that solidified that we wanted to come back here. We just had so much fun and such a good time so I think that stuck out to us!
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