The Student Support Foundation is looking for volunteers to work at the Food Pantry here on campus. President of SSF, Emily Sullivan, is hoping for a great turnout this semester. “We try to keep the food pantry open a few hours every day if we can nd the volunteers”, Emily said. SSF would like to recruit a minimum of ve volunteers in order to reach their goal.

Volunteers will learn valuable skills from this experience. “We train our volunteers on how to work with students that come into the pantry”, Emily said, “Training is quick and easy and takes no longer than 5 minutes. Volunteers also help with organizing the donations we get and separating expired foods with more recent donations.” This opportunity is beneficial for students, without being overwhelming. Anyone who gets involved in this will gain social and organizational skills, as well as an opportunity to build their resume.

Future employers value seeing volunteering on resumes. Volunteering shows commitment to helping others. “Volunteers can create great relationships with advisors and faculty and sta on campus as well has being a part of extracurricular programs, and volunteering opportunities are always a great addition to any resume”, Emily said. Forming relationships with faculty and staff is always a good idea, especially when students need recommendation letters for jobs. A resume that shows volunteering hours may help students stand out among other applicants. It can really make a di erence in terms of applying for future jobs, and growing as a person.

Any student who struggles with effective planning would gain a lot from volunteering for SSF. “Volunteers learn how to run a pantry with little assistance from others so they can be independent”, Emily said, “They also learn time management and commitment to their weekly hours and making them coordinate with their class schedule as well.” Volunteers will be responsible for their hours, which will help them learn how to properly distribute their time throughout the day. This is also a great chance for students to gain a sense of independence, by counting on themselves rather than others.

Volunteering is ideal for giving back to the community, along with building a resume. Emily believes that volunteering time to bene t other people is a sel ess act. “For some people, the immediate results and satisfaction you can get from volunteering is rewarding enough”, Emily said, “A simple gesture of kindness or participating in volunteering events are ways that show some of the best traits in people.” If anyone wants an opportunity to build their resume and feel better about themselves,

volunteering at the Food Pantry right here on campus is a great place to start. After all, the more we give, the happier we feel.

Volunteers will be more than welcome to join SSF in their future plans. SSF has a few exciting projects in the works. “We are still working with the hunger cluster project, and working with faculty and sta to see how resul ts from the campus wide survey can help make SSF better”, Emily said, “We are also planning to purchase new merchandise to give out around campus to try to be more known campus wide.” Volunteers will be encouraged to help out with these projects over the course of the semester. Working with SSF will help students in a variety of ways, including making them feel good about being a Panther. “With more and more students attending PSU than ever before, it is important for SSF to learn how to best help the most students that we can in meaningful ways”, Emily said. SSF is one of the many features of PSU that make our school a community-based and friendly place.

On top of recruiting volunteers, SSF is always welcoming new members. Anyone who is interested in joining SSF should contact Emily at ersullivan1@plymouth.edu. Students and organizations are also encouraged to contact her if they would like to collaborate with SSF on upcoming events.