VT Engage pairs purpose with partnership
Students, faculty, and staff volunteer their time to participate in VT Engage's Giles County Cleanup Days, an effort to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene. "I think that it just shows what Hokies are all about, which is being beyond just themselves," said Isabelle Largen, assistant director for food access initiatives at VT Engage.
The call came at 8 on a Monday morning.
“Izzy, I got a problem,” the voice of Charlie Herbert, founder of the Giles Community Garden, cracked through Izzy Largen’s phone speaker.
It was Sept. 30, just two days after Hurricane Helene had caused devastating flooding throughout the southeast, including Giles County.
Largen, assistant director for food access initiatives with VT Engage, met Herbert through Thrive, a network of food access organizations. The two have collaborated on various projects over the years, primarily focused on food collection and distribution to local pantries. Herbert has been a pivotal contact for VT Engage’s outreach work.
At the time of their phone call, Herbert was working on hurricane relief efforts with the Giles County emergency coordinator.
“Tell me what you need, and we’ll figure it out from there,” Largen told him.
Through a chain of communication with local organizers and a volunteer sign-up platform made with the help of Renew the New, VT Engage matched student and faculty volunteers to requests for volunteers.
Over the course of two days, VT Engage led two trips to Eggleston Campground with 21 volunteers, including 15 students. The volunteers put in more than 100 hours of work.
Largen and VT Engage follow the philosophy of mutually beneficial community service: They listen to the needs of the communities they want to serve and offer intentional, collaborative service accordingly. It’s a practice that works best when a foundation of strong community partnerships is already in place. When Giles needed help, Herbert knew exactly who to ask, and he could trust VT Engage to deliver.
“Our work is built off existing partnerships,” said Largen. “Through intentional service and mindful communication, we hope students will understand the bigger systems they’re in.”
Connection and purpose
When Largen and Herbert organized the volunteer trips to Eggleston Campground, they were strategic with their planning. They worked with Giles County community leaders to come up with an action plan, being mindful of labor, ability, and time.
“We always want to make sure we’re intentional with how much we can handle and do well,” Largen said.
Like their work at the Eggleston Campground, Largen and Herbert’s food access work with other New River Community Foundation organizations relies on a foundation of trust, communication, and respect.
“We’re all trying to serve our clients in our own ways, but they can be served that much better if we can collaborate,” said Largen. “That's what's at the heart of our partnerships. Everyone just wants to feed people, and everyone has a general care and love for the community we’re working with.”
Herbert added, “When we work together, we’re better able to distribute resources equitably.”
Service from the heart
Like most sustainable partnerships, Largen and Herbert’s collaborative efforts have been successful because they are driven by a shared sense of purpose and care.
Herbert, who has been involved in community service since he was a child in the Episcopal Church, found a renewed sense of purpose in his work after years of struggling with addiction. Along with his food access service work in Giles County, he leads local recovery meetings.
“When I got sober, part of that experience was understanding that to be able to stay sober, I needed to go back to the other thing that I had always loved, which was service work,” he said. “Part of what I talk about regularly in our recovery meetings is that you have to get outside of yourself and be able to give of yourself to understand who you are, what you are, and how you can give back — because it isn't about you.”
Largen agrees that the best way to serve is from the heart. She said while many people feel called to service work, when there is thought and intention behind why they want to serve, their impact is that much bigger.
To those who want to serve but don’t know where to start, she said, “There are so many ways you can get involved. Talk to people. Do some research and do some soul searching in what you're interested in, and then you'll find it.”
Start with what you know
For students who are new to community service, Virginia Tech is a community of its own, where campus initiatives, clubs, and organizations are able to work together for the greater good.
Ainsley Cragin, a senior and student fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, found her passion for service when she came to Virginia Tech.
As a first-year student, she became the vice president for issues and policy in the Undergraduate Student Senate. Jamal Jefferson-Ross, then undergraduate representative to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and undergraduate senate cabinet member, said students had more food insecurity around the end of the semester, when many didn’t have time to access resources like The Market of Virginia Tech.
Jefferson-Ross and Cragin collaborated with VT Engage, The Market, and the Dean of Students Office to offer pop-up pantries that made food support easily accessible to busy students.
“For the first time, it felt like I was part of something bigger than myself,” she said.
Cragin takes a grassroots approach to identifying needs by stopping and talking to students on campus. She said the Student Affairs programs create a culture of empathic service.
“When I was working at The Market and the pop-up pantries, I realized that the work wasn’t just for the students, but for the volunteers too,” she said. “We’re all college students trying to do our best. If you’re so caught up serving that you forget to make connections, you aren’t doing it right.”
Reagan Scherer, a senior and president of the Society of Physics Students, has served as a volunteer throughout her college career in countless initiatives on and off campus. One of the student volunteers at Eggleston Campground, she described service as both a calling and a privilege.
“Volunteering is much more than giving back,” she said. “It’s a great learning experience that connects all of us and encourages growing alongside each other.”
To learn more about VT Engage and upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit the VT Engage website, or the VT Engage Gobbler Connect page.
