Ohio Campus Compact was awarded an AmeriCorps 30th Anniversary grant through ServeOhio to complete a service project during AmeriCorps Week in March. The grant awarded $5,000 to create 1,800 care kits full of much-needed hygiene items and distribute to students on OCC’s 10 Student Resource Center (SRC) campuses across the state. SRC AmeriCorps members along with student volunteers assembled and distributed care kits on their respective campuses while raising awareness about AmeriCorps and their campus SRC.
From left – Kalena and Alaina, 2023-24 SRC LeaderCorps members
SRC LeaderCorps members, Alaina Giovengo (Baldwin Wallace University) and Kalena Speicher (Kent State University) developed the service project to address basic needs insecurity. They worked with Ohio Campus Compact staff who applied for the funding.
“Last month, for AmeriCorps Week, I teamed up with KSU’s Male Empowerment Network (MEN) to put together hygiene kits. My fellow member Alaina and I devised this project as part of our LeaderCorps term. We realized that hygiene security was a common need on our campuses. With the help of MEN, we decorated and packed 180 hygiene kits at KSU. These kits were then distributed to our patrons during the Flashes Fighting Hunger weekly food distribution.”
SRC AmeriCorps members recruited 91 volunteers who contributed over 195 hours to the project and held events across campus to distribute the kits. Students received toothbrushes, deodorant, hand sanitizer wipes, razors, shaving cream, soap, shampoo and conditioner. Members reported an overwhelming response to the kits and shared how the funding from this grant allowed them to highlight an often-overlooked need.
A Student Resource Center is a space on campus where students can access resources to help eliminate barriers they are facing that are impacting their academic success. SRC AmeriCorps members spend a year of service developing an SRC on campus, identifying campus-wide, local, state and federal resources, and connecting students to those resources.
If your campus is interested in being a Student Resource Center campus, please reach out to OCC staff to learn more!