Service Opportunities

• ServeAkron works with dozens of off campus community partners that have a wide variety of needs for volunteers to help further their individual missions. Whether you’re looking for opportunities to mentor or tutor Akron youth, build or renovate low cost homes, clean up city streets and parks, or feed food insecure community members, serveAkron can help find one time service projects as well as ongoing opportunities.
• ServeAkron has a brand new, one-stop-shop for volunteer opportunities! On the new website, you can search for volunteer opportunities, sign up, and receive details all in one place. Students are able to see both UA sponsored events like Make A Difference Day and Zip Into Service, but they also can search and look for any opportunities happening in the Greater Akron and Summit County area. Make sure you create an account using your uakron email and you are good to go! 
• For any questions, please reach out to Abby Ernst, aernst@uakron.edu
• Website link: https://volunteerconnect.bvuvolunteers.org/uakron

Every 4th Saturday in October, serveAkron coordinates Make a Difference Day.  Since 2005, the University has deployed more than 10,083 volunteers that have dedicated more than 31,560 hours of service to the Greater Akron area. This national program allows the University to partner with more than 40 nonprofits through Greater Akron. 

• Drop In Service Projects are an easy and convenient way to give back for students who want to volunteer but are always on the go.  4 times per semester, ServeAkron and the Zips Activities Boartd (ZAB) hosts a project in the Jean Hower Taber Student Union that can be done on anyone’s time table.  Whether you have 5 minutes or a couple hours, you can still make a difference.  Examples of Drop In Service projects include bookmarks for tutoring programs, care packages for homeless individuals, and survivor bags for domestic violence shelters. 

National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to recognize the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges, to build stronger communities and be a force that transforms the world. Each year, we shine a light on the people and causes that inspire us to serve, recognizing and thanking volunteers who lend their time, talent and voice to make a difference in their communities.

National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 and has grown exponentially each year, with thousands of volunteer projects and special events scheduled throughout the week. Today, as people strive to lead lives that reflect their values, the expression of civic life has evolved. Whether online, at the office, or the local food bank; whether with a vote, a voice, or a wallet – doing good comes in many forms, and we recognize and celebrate them all.