In December, young alumni from the D.C. area helped sort goods at the Capital Area Food Bank

New York-area alumni in front of a mural they painted at PS 306 during New York Cares Day in October

GW staff members sort gifts donated at GW’s Adopt-a-Family reception in December

For many, the holiday season is a time for giving. The GW community is no exception, as countless alumni, students, faculty, and staff give their time and resources to help others.

About 20 GW graduates spent a Saturday afternoon in December sorting and repackaging donated food at the Capital Area Food Bank. This service project, organized by the GW Young Alumni Network, brought alumni to the Food Bank’s warehouse in northeast Washington, D.C., to organize the items. The Food Bank is the largest public nonprofit hunger and nutrition education resource in the D.C. metropolitan area, distributing 20 million pounds of food through more than 700 member agencies each year.

“I wanted to give young alumni a chance to do something different than the usual happy hours and sports events,” said Devon Tutak, CCAS BA ’03, a volunteer who helped organize the project. “Many GW students are very active in community service, so it only seemed natural that alumni would want to continue that trend.”

GW alumni do not only engage in community service during the holidays. A few months earlier and a few hundred miles north, a dozen alumni teamed together to participate in the annual day-long service event, New York Cares Day. The GW team helped paint murals, clean classrooms, and plant a garden at New York’s P.S. 306 Ethan Allen, which educates children from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Team captain Jennifer Battista, CCAS BA ’98, organized the GW alumni team and is among a group of alumni planning to volunteer at Hands on New York Day on Saturday, April 12.

GW alumni teams also will register for Chicago River Day on Saturday, May 10 and the National Race for the Cure on Saturday, June 7 in D.C. Visit the GW Alumni Calendar of Events to register for these service events and learn more about alumni programming in your area.

GW students, faculty, and staff also have made significant contributions to the community. As of Jan. 7, GW faculty and staff had given $40,000 to the 2007 GW United Way campaign, and the entire GW community helped ensure that holiday gifts reached 140 families through Adopt-A-Family. In addition, the University held a canned food drive, children’s book drive, clothing drive, and blood drive around the holidays. During the last academic year, more than 2,500 students performed over 55,000 hours of service valued at more than $1,500,000, according to the GW Office of Community Service.

Do you have photos or stories from a recent volunteer project you participated in with a group of GW alumni? Let us know by e-mailing cable@gwu.edu.